Antibiotic Self-Medication Patterns and Associated Factors in the Context of COVID-19, Medellín, Colombia: A Survey Based Cross Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE: To describe the frequency of self-medication with antibiotics and its associated factors in Medellín, Colombia. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted on 778 individuals surveyed regarding sociodemographic characteristics, self-medication with antibiotics, reasons for using these drugs, and types of antibiotics used. The analysis was performed in SPSS using absolute and relative frequencies with their corresponding confidence intervals, chi-square test, and logistic regression. RESULTS: The frequency of self-medication with antibiotics was 46% (95% CI 42.5–49.5), with 47.4% (95% CI 42.2–52.5) of the population using antibiotics without medical prescription for flu-like symptoms related to COVID-19. Amoxicillin (33.7%), azithromycin (10.9%), and cephalexin (4.7%) were the most used antibiotics. The main factors associated with self-medication were age group, zone of residence, and lack of information on the appropriate use of these medications. CONCLUSION: The city exhibits a high frequency of self-medication with antibiotics, predominantly in conditions where they are ineffective, such as flu-like symptoms related to COVID-19. These findings highlight the contribution of the COVID-19 pandemic to bacterial resistance through self-medication and underscore the need to implement targeted actions to control the use of these medications.