ArticlePloS one2022
A cross-sectional study on COVID-19-related changes in self-medication with antibiotics.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of self-medication practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for pharmacy practice in supporting public health measures.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of doctors' advice on non-prescription antibiotic use: a randomized controlled trial, China.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2026Trial
- Prescription-only medicine requests by clients: Insights from community pharmacies.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Examine the Impact of Self-Medicated Antibiotics on Gut Bacterial Diversity From COVID-19 Patients in Gopalganj, Bangladesh.MicrobiologyOpen · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of self-medication with antibiotics in the general population of Tehran-a population-based study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Antibiotic Prescriptions at the University Clinical Dentistry Center of Kosovo.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Assessment of factors associated with self-medication practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in southwestern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional survey.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Treatment seeking and antibiotic use for urinary tract infection symptoms in the time of COVID-19 in Tanzania and Uganda.Journal of global health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimDental treatments have been limited to emergency care in many countries worldwide due to the global rapid spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Fear of contracting the disease in dental clinics has also altered the pattern of dental visits and self-medication. The present study compared self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) and the pattern of dental visits before and after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in a referral dental clinic in the north of Iran. MATERIALS AND
methodsThe data for the present cross-sectional study was collected from 756 patient records retrieved from the archives of the Faculty Clinic of Rasht School of Dentistry during two separate periods: before the COVID-19 pandemic from mid-November 2019 to mid-February 2020, and after the pandemic emergence from mid-April to mid-July 2020. In addition to demographic variables namely age, gender, and place of residence of patients, their smoking status, chief complaint, and SMA were also extracted from patient records. The Chi-square test and binary logistic regression models with 95% confidence interval served for statistical analysis.
resultsIn total, 756 patient records (412 records from the pre-pandemic period and 344 records from the post-pandemic period) were evaluated. SMA was significantly more prevalent after the pandemic compared to that before pandemic (OR = 3.39, 95% CI = 2.43-4.73, P<0.001). The number of patients who smoke significantly decreased after the pandemic by 6.6% compared to that in pre-pandemic period. Dental pain, pus discharge, and abscess as the chief complaints of patients were significantly more prevalent during the post-pandemic period; while, dental checkups, tooth hypersensitivity, and esthetic dental problems were significantly more frequent as the chief complaints of patients during the pre-pandemic period.
conclusionThere is indication that during the COVID-19 pandemic, SMA and prevalence of acute dental problems in patients have increased. With regard to the consequences of SMA, there is a need to raise public awareness on this matter.
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