Use of medicines and other products for therapeutic purposes among children in Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of the use of medicines and other products for therapeutic purposes in the Brazilian pediatric population and test whether demographic, socioeconomic and health factors are associated with use. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based study (National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines - PNAUM), including 7,528 children aged 12 or younger, living in urban areas in Brazil. Medicine use to treat chronic or acute diseases was reported by the primary caregiver present at the household interview. Associations between independent variables and medicine use were investigated by Poisson regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of medicine use was 30.7% (95% CI 28.3-33.1). The prevalence of medicine use for chronic diseases was 5.6% (95% CI 4.7-6.7) and for acute conditions, 27.1% (95% CI 24.8-29.4). The factors significantly associated with overall use were five years old or under, living in the Northeast region, having health insurance and using health services in the last 12 months (emergency visits and hospitalizations). The following were associated with drug use for chronic diseases: age >= 2 years, Southeast and South regions, and use of health services. For drug use in treating acute conditions, the following associated factors were identified: <= 5 years, North, Northeast or Midwest regions, health insurance, and one or more emergency visits. The most commonly used drugs among children under two years of age were paracetamol, ascorbic acid, and dipyrone; for children aged two years or over they were dipyrone, paracetamol, and amoxicillin. CONCLUSIONS: The use of medicine by children is considerable, especially in treating acute medical conditions. Children using drugs for chronic diseases have a different demographic profile from those using drugs for acute conditions in relation to gender, age, and geographic region.