SynthesisPloS one2021
Self-medication practices to prevent or manage COVID-19: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of self-medication practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for pharmacy practice in supporting public health measures.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19: evidence beyond the hype.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Pooled it
- The Effect of a Global Health Shock on Preventive Drug Intake: Evidence from SHARE 2020-2022 for 15 European Countries.Research square · 2026Article
- Self-management of long COVID symptoms with over-the-counter medicines and other non-prescribed therapies: a cross-sectional survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the antibiotic consumption and resistance in Montenegro.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of self-medication with vitamin or mineral supplements in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Analysis of the Use of Over-the-Counter Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Observational
- National trends in Azithromycin consumption during 2017-2023 in Kazakhstan: impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the imperative for enhanced clinical guidelines.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Polypharmacy and self-medication among older adults in Indian urban communities-a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The impact of ivermectin on COVID-19 outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Article
- Prevalence of azithromycin resistance after the COVID-19 era in clinical bacterial isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Gurugram, India.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Pattern of antibiotic use among children caregivers: a cross-sectional study.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2024Article
- Individual use of self-medication and other remedies in COVID-19 outpatients in Western-Pomerania.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
- Assessment of factors associated with self-medication practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in southwestern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional survey.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Impact assessment of self-medication on COVID-19 prevalence in Gauteng, South Africa, using an age-structured disease transmission modelling framework.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Dose-dependent effects of acetaminophen and ibuprofen on mitochondrial respiration of human platelets.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2024Article
- A qualitative exploration of purchasing, stockpiling, and use of drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic in an urban city of Bangladesh.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Managing long COVID symptoms and accessing health services in Brazil: A grounded theory analysis.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Evolution of COVID-19 infection characteristics in a Lebanese cohort of inpatients during different pandemic periods.Pathogens and global health · 2024Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies have assessed the prevalence and characteristics of self-medication in COVID-19. However, no systematic review has summarized their findings.
objectiveWe conducted a systematic review to assess the prevalence of self-medication to prevent or manage COVID-19.
methodsWe used different keywords and searched studies published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, two preprint repositories, Google, and Google Scholar. We included studies that reported original data and assessed self-medication to prevent or manage COVID-19. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) modified for cross-sectional studies.
resultsWe identified eight studies, all studies were cross-sectional, and only one detailed the question used to assess self-medication. The recall period was heterogeneous across studies. Of the eight studies, seven assessed self-medication without focusing on a specific symptom: four performed in the general population (self-medication prevalence ranged between <4% to 88.3%) and three in specific populations (range: 33.9% to 51.3%). In these seven studies, the most used medications varied widely, including antibiotics, chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, acetaminophen, vitamins or supplements, ivermectin, and ibuprofen. The last study only assessed self-medication for fever due to COVID-19. Most studies had a risk of bias in the "representativeness of the sample" and "assessment of outcome" items of the NOS.
conclusionsStudies that assessed self-medication for COVID-19 found heterogeneous results regarding self-medication prevalence and medications used. More well-designed and adequately reported studies are warranted to assess this topic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.