TY - JOUR T1 - Self-medication, self-prescription and medicating “by proxy” in paediatrics JO - Anales de Pediatría (English Edition) T2 - AU - Valenzuela Ortiz,María AU - Sánchez Ruiz-Cabello,Francisco Javier AU - Uberos,José AU - Checa Ros,Ana Fátima AU - Valenzuela Ortiz,Cristina AU - Augustín Morales,María Carmen AU - Muñoz Hoyos,Antonio SN - 23412879 M3 - 10.1016/j.anpede.2016.06.005 DO - 10.1016/j.anpede.2016.06.005 UR - https://www.analesdepediatria.org/en-self-medication-self-prescription-medicating-by-proxy-articulo-S2341287917300741 AB - IntroductionSelf-prescribing or medicating ‘by proxy’ is not an autonomous, free and voluntary decision in the case of children. On the contrary, in this case it is based on the subjective interpretation of symptoms made by the mother or by a third person who is legally responsible for the minor. Analysing this situation is of great importance in order to know the determining factors, perceptions, and realities related to this problem. MethodsOur proposal is to perform a prospective observational study for analysing maternal and familiar determinant factors related to self-prescribing and self-medicating ‘by proxy’ in paediatrics. A validated survey was developed to be applied to mothers of children aged 0–14 who are users of the Paediatric Emergency Department in a hospital. ResultsA total of 1.714 mothers were recruited in a random period of time. This sample included 345 mothers who exclusively self-medicated their children (case group), and 1.369 mothers (control group) who did not meet this requirement. The overall percentage of medicating ‘by proxy’ was 32.8%. There is a significant association between self-medicating and educational level of the mother, the number of children, and the birth order among siblings. Neither maternal age nor social-occupational level are related to this problem. Most frequently used drugs include antipyretics and ‘anticatharrals’, usually administered as a monotherapy. ConclusionsOur results seem to indicate that the educational level and the parental experience acquired with previous children could generate the required confidence in parents to choose the medication by themselves. Almost 85% of these drugs come from the ‘home first-aid kit’. ER -