FATORES ASSOCIADOS AO USO DE MEDICAMENTOS POR ADOLESCENTES: CONTRIBUIÇÃO DA 3⁰ FASE DA COORTE BRISA – SÃO LUÍS, MA

Abstract

Adolescence is a period marked by intense physical, hormonal, and social transformations. The physiological and pharmacokinetic peculiarities of this age group, which change over time, make adolescents more susceptible to the harmful effects of medications, requiring special attention in pharmacovigilance studies. The lack of systematic research on medication use among adolescents, particularly in developing countries like Brazil, limits the understanding of its impacts.This study aimed to identify the factors associated with medication use among adolescents from the BRISA cohort in São Luís (MA), with a sample of 2,368 adolescents. It is an analytical cross-sectional study, part of the BRISA birth cohort (Brazilian Ribeirão Preto and São Luís Birth Cohort Studies), which has followed 5,166 births since 2010, with followup during the second year of life. In 2022-2023, the cohort was re-evaluated at ages 11 and 12. The study included sociodemographic, health, and medication use variables, classified according to the Brazilian Common Denomination (DCB) and the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) system of the World Health Organization (WHO). To analyze the factors associated with medication use, a Poisson regression model with robust variance was used, including independent variables and employing a hierarchical approach. Data were collected using the RedCap® software and analyzed in Stata 15.0. The results showed that 5.4% of adolescents reported using medications in the two months prior to the interview. The most commonly used medications belonged to the group for the musculoskeletal system (26.2%), with a focus on anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic drugs (25.4%), followed by analgesics (25%) and respiratory system medications, such as preparations for cough and colds (12.3%). The hierarchical analysis adjusted by Poisson regression indicated that adolescents from families with income in class C had a significantly higher prevalence of medication use, with a prevalence ratio (PR) of 2.08 (95% CI: 1.30-3.35, p = 0.002).The results provide important contributions to the understanding of medication use among adolescents, highlighting not only the characteristics of consumption but also the socio-economic factors involved, particularly the impact of socio-economic conditions on access to and consumption of pharmacological treatments.