ReviewAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Prevalence and Correlates of Self-Medication Practices for Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review.
Review in Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- 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
- Prevalence of self-medication during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- COVID-19 vaccination and use of antibiotics in COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Infection prevention in practice · 2025Review
- Prevalence of self-medication with vitamin or mineral supplements in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Exploring self-care choices: a qualitative study of self-medication insights among university students in Lira City, Northern Uganda.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Individual use of self-medication and other remedies in COVID-19 outpatients in Western-Pomerania.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
- 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
- Assessing the Reasons and Adverse Effects of Self-Medication in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sierra Leone. A Case Study of Moriba Town Section.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2024Article
- Assessing the Effects of Medical Information on Parental Self-Medication Behaviors for Children's Health: A Comparative Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Topic and Trend Analysis of Weibo Discussions About COVID-19 Medications Before and After China's Exit from the Zero-COVID Policy: Retrospective Infoveillance Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Usage of Natural Health Products (NHPs) for respiratory diseases: user characteristics and NHP-Consumption behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Article
- The Abuse and Misuse of Over-the-Counter Medicines During COVID-19.Hospital pharmacy · 2023Review
- Oral Corticosteroid Abuse and Self-Prescription in Italy: A Perspective from Community Pharmacists and Sales Reports before and during the COVID-19 Era.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Vitamin D and SARS-CoV-2 Infection: SERVE Study (SARS-CoV-2 Exposure and the Role of Vitamin D among Hospital Employees).The Journal of nutrition · 2023Article
- Out-of-pocket expenditure and catastrophic costs due to COVID-19 in Indonesia: A rapid online survey.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Self-Medication Patterns during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ecuador.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among children and adolescents recruited in a malariometric survey in north-eastern Tanzania July 2021.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Antibiotic Use Patterns among a Rural Community Population in Eastern China.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Differences in the Perception of Dietary Supplements between Dietary Supplement/Medicine Users and Non-Users.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Self-Medication Patterns during a Pandemic: A Qualitative Study on Romanian Mothers' Beliefs toward Self-Treatment of Their Children.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It has been suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in self-medication practices across the world. Yet, there is no up-to-date synthesized evidence on the prevalence of self-medication that is attributable to the pandemic. This study aimed to conduct a systematic literature review on the prevalence and correlates of self-medication for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 globally. The review was registered with the PROSPERO database. Searches were conducted following PRISMA guidelines, and relevant articles published between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2022 were included. Pooled prevalence rate was conducted using the Meta package in R. A total of 14 studies from 14 countries, which represented 15,154 participants, were included. The prevalence of COVID-19-related self-medication ranged from 3.4-96%. The pooled prevalence of self-medication for this purpose was 44.9% (95% CI: 23.8%, 68.1%). Medications reported by studies for self-medication were antibiotics (79%), vitamins (64%), antimalarials (50%), herbal and natural products (50%), analgesics and antipyretics (43%), minerals and supplements (43%), cold and allergy preparations (29%), corticosteroids (14%), and antivirals (7%). The prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics is concerning. More public health education about responsible self-medication amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics is required to mitigate the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance.
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