Nine in ten medical students self-medicate, Portuguese survey finds

Nearly nine in ten medical students at the University of Porto reported using medicines without a prescription in the past year, according to a cross-sectional survey published in BMC Medical Education. Of 247 students who completed an electronic questionnaire, 89.9% reported self-medication within the previous 12 months, and 34.0% described their use as frequent. The study defined self-medication as the use of any medication without a medical prescription during the previous 12 months.

Participants answered questions on sociodemographics, patterns of use, motivations, sources of guidance, knowledge and attitudes. Analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs topped the list of medicines taken without prescription, followed by vitamins, dietary supplements and natural products. Physical symptoms drove most episodes of self-treatment.

To identify what distinguished frequent users from occasional ones, the team ran descriptive, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Two attitudes emerged as independent predictors. Students who accepted the reuse of medication previously prescribed for them were more than twice as likely to self-medicate frequently (odds ratio 2.230; 95% confidence interval 1.058 to 4.701).

Those who believed self-medication was the best option for their own health had roughly threefold higher odds (odds ratio 3.295; 95% confidence interval 1.640 to 6.620). Academic stage also appeared to matter, though the evidence was weaker. Students in the fourth to sixth years showed a borderline association with frequent self-medication (odds ratio 2.033; 95% confidence interval 0.999 to 4.138; p = 0.050), a result that just failed to reach conventional statistical significance.

The authors argue that attitudes towards medication use, rather than knowledge alone, may be key drivers of self-medication behaviour, and that educational interventions should therefore target these behavioural determinants to promote safer and more rational use among future physicians. The study's design imposes clear limits. As a single-institution cross-sectional survey with a modest response rate, it captures a snapshot of self-reported behaviour at one Portuguese university and cannot establish causality.

The authors call for educational interventions informed by these behavioural findings, while the low participation rate means the true prevalence among all Porto medical students remains uncertain. Even with those caveats, the picture is striking: a highly prevalent practice, frequent use by roughly one in three respondents, and a set of beliefs about one's own health that independently mark out the heaviest users.

Subject of Research: Prevalence, patterns and predictors of self-medication among medical students at the University of Porto

Article Title: Self-medication among medical students: prevalence, patterns and factors associated with frequent self-medication

Article References: Fernandes, F. C. S., Santos, P., & Sá, L. (2026). Self-medication among medical students: prevalence, patterns and factors associated with frequent self-medication. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10673-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10673-1

Keywords: self-medication, medical students, cross-sectional study, Portugal, prescription drugs, analgesics, antibiotics, logistic regression, health attitudes, medical education, BMC Medical Education, University of Porto