SynthesisFrontiers in public health2022
Prevalence of self-medication during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications in people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and causes of self-medication for oral health problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2024Pooled it
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of self-medication and healthcare-seeking behavior among residents in the vicinity of a tertiary healthcare center in Madhesh Province, Nepal.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Article
- Self-medication before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Türkiye: evidence from national health surveys.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Self-Medication Behaviors: Determinants, Motivations, and Safety Practices Among Health Sciences Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Common Bacterial Pathogens to Antibiotics in Northern Ghana.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2026Article
- Prescription-only medicine requests by clients: Insights from community pharmacies.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Risk assessment for cardiovascular adverse drug events in the ICU: Case study on COVID-19 patients.PloS one · 2026Article
- Assessing Self-medication Practices Among Healthcare Providers With Migraine in Saudi Arabia.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Psychological Symptoms and Self-Medication Behavior among COVID-19 Recoverees.Iranian journal of psychiatry · 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
- The pattern of self-medication practice among adult patients attending primary healthcare centers at NGHA in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Analysis of the Use of Over-the-Counter Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Observational
- COVID-19 pandemic versus six "A"s of health care services - accessibility, affordability, availability, appropriateness, adequacy, and adherence.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- The Use of Novel Stimulants in ADHD Self-Medication: A Mixed Methods Analysis.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Increases in benzodiazepine prescribing for postpartum anxiety during COVID-19.Archives of women's mental health · 2025Article
- Prevalence, patterns, drivers, and perceived benefits of herbal medicine use in COVID-19 patients in Qatar.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Self-medication among general population in the European Union: prevalence and associated factors.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Self-medication practices among university students at a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 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
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel and quarantine measures made people turn to self-medication (SM) to control the symptoms of their diseases. Different studies were conducted worldwide on different populations, and their results were different. Therefore, this global systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, databases of Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched without a time limit. All eligible observational articles that reported self-medication during the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed. Heterogeneity among the studies was assessed using Cochran's Q test and I Results: Fifty-six eligible studies were reviewed. The pooled prevalence of self-medication was 48.6% (95% CI: 42.8-54.3). The highest and lowest prevalence of self-medication was in Asia (53%; 95% CI: 45-61) and Europe (40.8%; 95% CI: 35-46.8). Also, the highest and lowest prevalence of self-medication was related to students (54.5; 95% CI: 40.8-68.3) and healthcare workers (32.5%; 16-49). The prevalence of self-medication in the general population (48.8%; 40.6-57) and in patients with COVID-19 (41.7%; 25.5-58). The prevalence of self-medication was higher in studies that collected data in 2021 than in 2020 (51.2 vs. 48%). Publication bias was not significant ( Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, self-medication was highly prevalent, so nearly half of the people self-medicated. Therefore, it seems necessary to provide public education to control the consequences of self-medication.
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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.