Consumo de medicamentos por docentes de uma Instituição Federal de Ensino Superior no Ceará, Brasil

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence and factors associated with the use of medication among teachers of a public university in Ceará, Brazil. The same crosssectional design was carried out from April to June 2018 using an electronic and selfadministered questionnaire via e-mail. A sample of 758 teachers was studied. The data collection instrument was composed by the sample identification questionnaire; quality of life (WHOQOL-bref); and Burnout Syndrome (CESQT). Those who consumed at least one drug within the 15 days prior to the interview were considered as drug users. The bivariate analysis was performed using the Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests and the multivariate analysis using the Poisson regression model. The variables were arranged according to a hierarchical theoretical model in 8 levels and only those with a significance level of less than 5% were maintained in the final model. In the statistical analysis 742 teachers were included, obtaining 16 losses. The prevalence of drug use was 71% and that of self-medication was 28.7%. The reasons that led to the most consumption were headache, hypertension and pain in general. The factors related to consumption were: being female, being 40 years of age or older, having had a medical visit in the last 3 months, being affected by chronic disease, not feeling recognized as a teacher, presenting Burnout syndrome profile 2 , consider the quality of life very bad in the physical domain and move away from teaching for health reasons. The drugs that act on the nervous system were the most used, analgesics and psychoanalytics being the most used therapeutic classes and the combination dipirona+caffeine+orphenadrine and dipyrone alone the most consumed drugs. The high consumption of medicines should be viewed with concern and caution, since even prescription drugs are not exempt from health risks. Managers and health professionals should pay greater attention to teachers in order to avoid drug-related problems, higher absenteeism rates, and higher health expenditures. Educational actions aimed at the rational use of medicines should be considered.