The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked an enormous impact

around the world. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of self-medication for the prevention of COVID-19 during 2020 in a sample of university students from the northeast of Mexico. An electronic survey composed of two sections was used; the first section collects sociodemographic information, and the second section information related to self-medication for prevention of COVID-19. A totalof 284 students responded to the survey, 26% reports having self-medicated to prevent COVID-19, and 34.5% reports having a family member that self-medicated to prevent COVID-19 infection. The main products used to prevent infection were vitamins, NSAIDs, and herbal products. It is concluded that, in 2021, a significant percentage of university students in northeastern Mexico reported self-medication to prevent COVID-19 infection

González González, María del Rosario

González Santiago, Omar

Ramírez Estrada, Karla

Yeverino Gutiérrez, Myrna Laura

Repositorio Academico Digital UANL

240 JUNE 2022 • VOL. 47 Nº 60378-1844/14/07/468-08 $ 3.00/0IntroductionThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has pro-voked an enormous impact around the world (Ali, 2020) and Mexico has been one of the most affected countries; in fact, the true impact in Mexico has probably been underestimated (Ibarra-Nava et al., 2020). Several risk factors associated with severity and mortality of the disease have been reported in the literature. Among them are age >55 years, multiple pre-existing comorbidities, hy-poxia. Specific computed to-mography findings are indica-tive of extensive lung involve-ment, and diverse laboratory test abnormalities and biomark-ers of end-organ dysfunction are present (Gallo-Marin et al., 2021).Until now, the US Food and Drug administration (FDA) has authorized the antiviral drug remdesivir and two combina-tions of monoclonal antibodies for emergency use in certain patients. In addition, several vaccines are available, three of which (Pf izer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) have been approved by the FDA. Furthermore, barici-tinib has been approved in Japan (Mouffak et al., 2021). Despite available drugs, thera-peutics for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 are still in great need.Fear, anxiety and even para-noia can proliferate during a pandemic, all of which can lead to emotional and less than ratio-nal responses, such as self-med-ication (Freckelton, 2020). In addition of these, the ‘infodem-ic’, which refers to an excess of information (both true and false) that makes it difficult for people to access reliable sources and obtain valid guidance when it becomes most necessary for decision-making (Garcia-Saisó et al., 2021), could contribute to self-medication with medicinal drugs or other products that have no confirmed eff icacy, worsening the situation (OPS, 2020).Considering the risks that implied in self-medication, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of self-medication for the preven-tion of COVID19 in a sample of university students of northeast Mexico during 2021.MethodsAn anonymous survey com-posed of two sections was used: the first section collects infor-mation regarding age and gen-der; the second section collects information through open ques-tions about the use of preventive treatments, type of treatment used, whether a rela-tive has used preventive treat-ments and, other aspects about COVID self-prescription. The data of the survey are available as a supplementary f ile at ht tps://doi.org /10.6084/m9.figshare.20205353.v1.Due to COVID19 pandemic restrictions throughout Mexico, a convenience sampling was performed; the survey was ap-plied online and was available for three months in the FORMS platform from February to April 2021. Students from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León were invited through the social networks Facebook and Instagram. Responses were grouped by gender and the differences was tested with the chi-square test. A p-value <0.05 was considered signifi-cant. The data that support the of 284 students responded to the survey, 26% reports having self-medicated to prevent COVID-19, and 34.5% reports hav-ing a family member that self-medicated to prevent COVID-19 infection. The main products used to prevent infection were vi-tamins, NSAIDs, and herbal products. It is concluded that, in 2021, a significant percentage of university students in north-eastern Mexico reported self-medication to prevent COVID-19 infection.SUMMARYThe COVID-19 pandemic has provoked an enormous im-pact around the world. The objective of this study was to de-termine the prevalence of self-medication for the prevention of COVID-19 during 2020 in a sample of university students from the northeast of Mexico. An electronic survey composed of two sections was used; the first section collects sociodemo-graphic information, and the second section information re-lated to self-medication for prevention of COVID-19. A total KEYWORDS / Chlorine Dioxide / COVID19 / Self-medication /Received: 05/18/2022 Modified: 06/20/2022. Accepted: 06/25/2022.María DR González-González. Ph .D.  i n  Bioteh nolog y, Un iver sidad Autónoma de Tamaul ipas ,  Mex ico.  P ro -fessor, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León ( UA N L), Mexico.Myrna L. Yeverino-Gutiérrez. Ph.D. in Biotehnology, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Mexico. Professor, UANL, Mexico.Karla Ramírez-Estrada. Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. Professor, UANL, Mexico.Omar González-Santiago (Correpondence author). Ph.D. in Pharmacology, UANL, Mexico, Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UNAL), Mexico. Address: Faculty of Chemical Sciences, UANL. Av Universidad s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, SanNicolas de los Garza, Nuevo León, CP:64455. Mexico, e-mail: omar.gonzlaezst@uanl.edu.mxSELF-MEDICATION FOR PREVENTION OF COVID-19 IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF       THE NORTHEAST OF MEXICOMaría DR González-González, Myrna L. Yeverino-Gutiérrez, Karla Ramírez-Estrada and Omar González-SantiagoJUNE 2022 • VOL. 47 Nº 6 241AUTOMEDICACIÓN PARA LA PREVENCIÓN DEL COVID-19 EN ESTUDIANTES UNIVERSITARIOS DEL NORESTE DE MÉXICOMaría DR González-González, Myrna L. Yeverino-Gutiérrez, Karla Ramírez-Estrada y Omar González-SantiagoRESUMENspondieron la encuesta, 26% reportaron automedicarse con la intención de prevenir y 34,5% reportaron tener un familiar que se ha automedicado para prevenir la infección por COVID-19. Los principales productos utilizados para prevenir la infección fueron vitaminas, AINES, y productos herbales. Se concluye que, en el 2021, un importante porcentaje de estudiantes univer-sitarios del noreste de México reportaron automedicarse para prevenir la infección por COVID-19.La pandemia del COVID-19 a provocado un enorme impacto en el mundo. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la prev-alencia de automedicación para prevenir el COVID-19 en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios del noreste de México. Se utilizo una encuesta electrónica compuesta de dos secciones, la primera sección recolecta información sociodemográfica y la segunda información relacionada a la automedicación para la prevención del COVID-19. Un total de 284 estudiantes re-f indings of this study are available at https://f igshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Self-prescription_for_covid_preven-tion_Mexico_ 2021/16799773.ResultsA total of 284 students com-pleted the survey; 66% of them correspond to females. (Table I). Twenty percent of all indi-viduals reported to self-medi-cate with the intention of pre-venting COVID19. In this re-spect, there was no significant difference by gender (22.5% vs 16.5% for females and males respectively; p= 0.24). On the other hand, 34.5% of partici-pants reported having a family member that used preventive treatment for COVID19; no significant difference was ob-served by gender (p= 0.13).Among those who reported self-medication, the main prod-ucts reported as a preventive treatment for COVID19 were: vitamins (mainly C and D) 53.9%, medicinal drugs (main-ly paracetamol/AINES) 17.1%, herbal products 10.5%, other unspecif ied 7.9%, alcoholic beverage 6.6% and, chlorine dioxide 3.9%. This pattern was observed in both genders and no significant differences were observed between them (Table II).DiscussionSelf-medication for COVID-19 has been the object of few studies, with a prevalence ranging from <4% to 88% in the general population; this high variability could ref lex specific factors of each country which merit more research (Quicho-Lopez et al., 2021).  In this work, the prevalence of self-medication in students of UANL, for prevention of COVID19 was higher (23%) than reported for the general population of other countries, AUTOMEDICAÇÃO PARA A PREVENÇÃO DO COVID-19 EM ESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIOS DO NORDESTE   DO MÉXICOMaría DR González-González, Myrna L. Yeverino-Gutiérrez, Karla Ramírez-Estrada e Omar González-SantiagoRESUMOtionário, 26% relataram automedicar-se com o intuito de pre-venção e 34,5% relataram ter um familiar que se automedicou para prevenir a infecção por COVID-19. Os principais produtos utilizados para prevenir a infecção foram vitaminas, AINEs, e produtos a base de ervas. Conclui-se que, em 2021, uma im-portante porcentagem de estudantes universitários do nordeste do México relatou automedicação para prevenir a infecção por COVID-19.A pandemia da COVID-19 provocou um enorme impacto no mundo. O objetivo de este estudo foi determinar a prevalência de automedicação para prevenir COVID-19 em uma amostra de estudantes universitários do nordeste do México. Foi utilizado um questionário eletrônico composto de duas seções, a primei-ra seção recolhe dados sociodemográficos e a segunda recolhe informação relacionada à automedicação para a prevenção da COVID-19. Um total de 284 estudantes responderam o ques-TABLE ISELF-MEDICATION FOR PREVENTION OF COVID-19 INFECTIONVariable N % of self-reported use of pre-ventive treatment% with a family member who used preventive treatmentYes No Yes NoTotal 284 20.4 79.6 34.9 65.1Gender  male 97 16.5 83.5 28.9 71.1  female 187 22.5 77.5 38.0 62.0P value 0.24 0.13242 JUNE 2022 • VOL. 47 Nº 6such as Poland, Saudi Arabia, and India, where the preva-lence was 11.3% (Makowska et al, 2020), 22.1% (Alyami et al., 2020), and 16.3% (Azhar et al., 2021), respectively. Several factors reported in the litera-ture could be responsible for the high prevalence found in this study, such as long waiting time in healthcare facilities, difficulty in obtaining physi-cians’ appointments, an insuf-f icient amount of available beds/space in healthcare facili-ties, insufficient stock of es-sential medicines, and delay in at tention (Parulekar et al., 2016). In addition, the fear and fake news misinformation re-garding treatments and miracle cures on the web and social networks also could have con-tributed to this result (OPS, 2020).Concerning the most com-mon products used for the pre-vention of COVID-19 (vitamins 53.9%), similar results have been reported in the general population of Saudi Arabia (Alyami et al., 2020) and Bangladesh (Ahmed et al., 2020). On the other hand, me-dicinal drugs such as acet-aminophen and NSAIDs, which were the second most common in this study, have been report-ed in the literature to be self-medicated mainly for COVID-19 symptomatic treat-ment of fever (Ahmed et al., 2020) not for prevention of the infection. Herbal products also have been found to be self-medicated for the preven-tion or treatment of COVID-19 in other studies (Villena-Tejada et al., 2021).Considering that the popula-tion studied has a high education level, the use of chlorine dioxide (3.9%) as a preventive product for COVID-19 is worrying. It is possible that their use is higher in less educated individuals and, the general population of Peru has been reported its use in 8% of individuals (Soriano-Moreno et al., 2021). This compound is not safe for hu-mans, due to its observed thy-roid suppression, DNA damage and neurotoxicity in several animal models; alarmingly, it has been consumed to treat COVID-19 in many Latin-American countries, including Mexico (Mostajo-Radji, 2021).Although responsible self-medication could empower individuals to take control of their wellness in general, it could produce other undesir-able consequences such as polypharmacy, adverse effects, drug interactions, antibiotic resistance, incorrect diagnosis and, increased drug expenses (Malik et al., 2020) To face self-medication im-plies combating misinforma-tion by academics and author-ities at all levels, since it is a potential source for the use of miracle cures. In addition to this, in the case of Mexico and other developing coun-t r ies, the empowerment of community pharmacist’s role should be promoted by health authorities, since they could contribute to combating misin-formation and irresponsible self-medication.ConclusionIn the year 2021, an import-ant percentage of students of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León, Mexico. reports to have self-medicated to pre-vent COVID-19. The main product used was vitamins.REFERENCESAhmed I, Hasan M, Akter R, Sarkar BK, Rahman M, Sarker MS, Samad MA (2020) Behavioral preventive measures and the use of medicines and herbal pro-ducts among the public in res-ponse to Covid-19 in Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study. PloS One 15(12). E0243796. ht tps://doi.o r g / 1 0 . 1 3 7 1 / J O U R N A L .PONE.0243706Ali I (2020) COVID-19: Are we re-ady for the second wave? Disast. Med. Publ. 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Self-medication for prevention of COVID-19 in university students of the northeast of Mexico

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