Factors associated with medicine use and self medication are different in adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of medicine use among high school students (14-18 years old) living in an urban area in Southern Brazil and the proportion who self-medicate and to explore the association between medicine use and demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral variables. METHODS: A school-based survey was conducted among high school students in the city of Maringa/PR, Brazil in 2007. The sample students were selected through two-stage random sampling. The sample included 991 students (54.5% females) from eight public and four private high schools. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Only medications used within the 15 days preceding data collection were considered. The independent variables studied were sex, age, socioeconomic status, living with parents, employment status, smoking habits, and alcohol use. RESULTS: The prevalence of medicine use among the adolescents was 55.8% (females = 64.3%, males = 45.7%, p