Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study

Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study

Abstract BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have had to adopt remote education, a strategy that caused sudden changes of routine for everyone involved in academia. OBJECTIVE: To assess the profile of medicine use by the employees of a Brazilian public university during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study at a Brazilian public university. METHODS: Employees were invited to answer an online self-administered questionnaire, containing questions on sociodemographic features, medicine use, mental health and lifestyle habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcome variable was the use of medicines stratified according to occupation. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate (Poisson regression) statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 372 employees participated in the study and use of medicine was reported by 53.2%. Among professors, suicide attempts (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-2.74), physical activity (PR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.11-2.11) and poor self-rated health (PR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.01-1.66); and among technicians, decreased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic (PR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.00-1.99), excess body weight (PR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02-1.88) and poor self-rated health (PR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.14-1.92) were positively associated with use of medicines. In addition, among technicians, engaging in physical activity (PR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.46-0.78) was a protective factor against medicine use. CONCLUSION: The profile of medicine use among these employees was similar to that of the Brazilian population. However, some associated factors may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus highlighting the need to examine this topic in a longitudinal study.

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Main Authors: Paula,Waléria de, Oliveira,Wanessa Cecília de, Meireles,Adriana Lúcia, Nascimento,Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo do, Silva,Glenda Nicioli da
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM 2022
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802022000200250
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spelling oai:scielo:S1516-318020220002002502022-03-10Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional studyPaula,Waléria deOliveira,Wanessa Cecília deMeireles,Adriana LúciaNascimento,Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo doSilva,Glenda Nicioli da Drug utilization COVID-19 Universities Faculty Pharmacoepidemiology Medicine use University professors Technicians Abstract BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have had to adopt remote education, a strategy that caused sudden changes of routine for everyone involved in academia. OBJECTIVE: To assess the profile of medicine use by the employees of a Brazilian public university during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study at a Brazilian public university. METHODS: Employees were invited to answer an online self-administered questionnaire, containing questions on sociodemographic features, medicine use, mental health and lifestyle habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcome variable was the use of medicines stratified according to occupation. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate (Poisson regression) statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 372 employees participated in the study and use of medicine was reported by 53.2%. Among professors, suicide attempts (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-2.74), physical activity (PR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.11-2.11) and poor self-rated health (PR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.01-1.66); and among technicians, decreased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic (PR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.00-1.99), excess body weight (PR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02-1.88) and poor self-rated health (PR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.14-1.92) were positively associated with use of medicines. In addition, among technicians, engaging in physical activity (PR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.46-0.78) was a protective factor against medicine use. CONCLUSION: The profile of medicine use among these employees was similar to that of the Brazilian population. However, some associated factors may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus highlighting the need to examine this topic in a longitudinal study.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAssociação Paulista de Medicina - APMSao Paulo Medical Journal v.140 n.2 20222022-02-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articletext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802022000200250en10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0367.r1.23072021
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countrycode BR
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libraryname SciELO
language English
format Digital
author Paula,Waléria de
Oliveira,Wanessa Cecília de
Meireles,Adriana Lúcia
Nascimento,Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo do
Silva,Glenda Nicioli da
spellingShingle Paula,Waléria de
Oliveira,Wanessa Cecília de
Meireles,Adriana Lúcia
Nascimento,Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo do
Silva,Glenda Nicioli da
Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
author_facet Paula,Waléria de
Oliveira,Wanessa Cecília de
Meireles,Adriana Lúcia
Nascimento,Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo do
Silva,Glenda Nicioli da
author_sort Paula,Waléria de
title Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
title_short Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
title_full Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Effects and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a Brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
title_sort effects and implications of the covid-19 pandemic on medicine use by employees of a brazilian public university: a cross-sectional study
description Abstract BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have had to adopt remote education, a strategy that caused sudden changes of routine for everyone involved in academia. OBJECTIVE: To assess the profile of medicine use by the employees of a Brazilian public university during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study at a Brazilian public university. METHODS: Employees were invited to answer an online self-administered questionnaire, containing questions on sociodemographic features, medicine use, mental health and lifestyle habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcome variable was the use of medicines stratified according to occupation. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate (Poisson regression) statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS: A total of 372 employees participated in the study and use of medicine was reported by 53.2%. Among professors, suicide attempts (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-2.74), physical activity (PR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.11-2.11) and poor self-rated health (PR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.01-1.66); and among technicians, decreased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic (PR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.00-1.99), excess body weight (PR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02-1.88) and poor self-rated health (PR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.14-1.92) were positively associated with use of medicines. In addition, among technicians, engaging in physical activity (PR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.46-0.78) was a protective factor against medicine use. CONCLUSION: The profile of medicine use among these employees was similar to that of the Brazilian population. However, some associated factors may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus highlighting the need to examine this topic in a longitudinal study.
publisher Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM
publishDate 2022
url http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802022000200250
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