ArticleDrug safety2014
Self-medication with over-the-counter and prescribed drugs causing adverse-drug-reaction-related hospital admissions: results of a prospective, long-term multi-centre study.
Article in Drug safety, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adverse Health Events Related to Self-Medication Practices Among Elderly: A Systematic Review.Drugs & aging · 2017Pooled it
- Medicine Inventories and Practices of Self-Medication in Households of Medical and Pharmacy Students at the University of Rijeka, Croatia: A Cross-Sectional Study with Implications for Healthcare Professions Education.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- From informal practice to structured care: pharmaceutical indication and minor ailment management in Latin American community pharmacy.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Governing access to medicines in Central America: community pharmacy, patient safety, and lessons from Spain.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Attitudes and behaviors concerning self-medication practices among adult urban population in Croatia: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Unveiling pedagogical effects of blended multimedia and slide-based approaches on students' self-efficacy and performance in over-the-counter medication counseling: an explanatory mixed methods study.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Self-Medication as a Global Health Concern: Overview of Practices and Associated Factors-A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Associations of high-risk drug patterns with mortality among community-dwelling older adults: A 23-year prospective cohort study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Drug stockpiling behavior and its impact on anxiety among the general public in the early stage after the lifting of China's Zero-COVID policy: results from a web-based survey.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Evaluating Adverse Drug Reactions, Their Reporting Rates and Their Impact on Attitudes Toward Pharmacotherapy Among Female Patients with Schizophrenia: Insights and Implications from a Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Ethical conflicts in patient care situations of community pharmacists: a cross-sectional online survey.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2024Article
- Qualitative analysis of blood from patients engaging in deliberate self-harm: Differences between prescribed and detected drugs.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2024Article
- Self-medication among general population in the European Union: prevalence and associated factors.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Evaluating consumer self-medication practices, pharmaceutical care services, and pharmacy selection: a quantitative study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Self-medication among pregnant women in comparison to the general population: a scoping review of the main characteristics.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2024Article
- Assessing pharmaceutical consultations: Comparing pharmacy-recommended medications for minor ailments and regulatory compliance in a Latin American healthcare network.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Self-Medication Practices, Use of Brand-Name, and Over-the-Counter Medicines by Peruvian Older Adults.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2023Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study to Investigate the Prevalence of Self-Medication of Non-Opioid Analgesics Among Medical Students at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.Patient preference and adherence · 2023Article
- Frequency and Knowledge of Analgesics Self-Use and Their Adverse Effects in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSelf-medication, including both the use of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and the use of formerly prescribed drugs taken without a current physician's recommendation, is a public health concern; however, little data exist regarding the actual risk.
objectiveWe aimed to analyse self-medication-related adverse drug reactions (ADRs) leading to hospitalisation.
methodsIn a multi-centre, observational study covering a hospital catchment area of approximately 500,000 inhabitants, we analysed self-medication-related ADRs leading to hospital admissions in internal medicine departments. Data of patients with ADRs were comprehensively documented, and ADR causality was assessed using Bégaud's algorithm. The included ADRs occurred between January 2000 and December 2008 and were assessed to be at least 'possibly' drug related.
resultsOf 6,887 patients with ADRs, self-medication was involved in 266 (3.9 %) patients. In 143 (53.8 %) of these patients, ADRs were due to OTC drugs. Formerly prescribed drugs and potential OTC drugs accounted for the remaining ADRs. Most self-medication-related ADRs occurred in women aged 70-79 years and in men aged 60-69 years. Self-medication-related ADRs were predominantly gastrointestinal complaints caused by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (most frequently OTC acetylsalicylic acid [ASA, aspirin]). In 102 (38.3 %) of the patients with self-medication-related ADRs, a relevant drug-drug interaction (DDI), occurring between a self-medication and a prescribed medication, was present (most frequently ASA taken as an OTC drug and prescribed diclofenac).
conclusionIn the general population, self-medication plays a limited role in ADRs leading to hospitalisation. However, prevention strategies focused on elderly patients and patients receiving interacting prescribed drugs would improve patient safety.
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