Self-medication is the use of medicines to treat symptoms or disorders identified by the users without prescription, or the intermittent or continued use of a medicine prescribed by a physician to treat recurring or chronic symptoms or illnesses of the user or their family members, especially children or elderly people ¹ . It is a common practice both in developed and developing countries that may cause potential risks due to an incorrect self-diagnosis, failures in treatment, risk of overdose, medical interactions, severe adverse effects, among others ^{2, 3} .

Several studies show that patterns of self-medication widely vary among populations, and these patterns are influenced by multiple factors, such as age, sex, income, expenses, orientation to self-care, level of education, medical knowledge, satisfaction with health services, and perception of illness ^{1, 4} . A systematic review of publications from different countries show a prevalence of self-medication ranging between 12.7% and 71% ⁵ .

In Peru, important processes of health reform have been developed, meaning advances to achieve an increased coverage of universal insurance in health, and defense of users’ rights ⁶ . However, in 2014, it was reported that 30.6% of patients had an insufficient access to medicines which patients requested in pharmacies of Peruvian health facilities. Furthermore, 20.7% of users of pharmacies of public health facilities where they had been treated were told to purchase medicines in an external pharmacy ⁷ . Other studies have shown that 13% of adults who purchased antibiotics for children under five years bought them in private pharmacies without medical prescription. These results could demonstrate a low availability of medicines in health facilities, which added to self-medication, an inadequate use of medicines, and inadequate dispensing practices in pharmacies, represent a critical problem in the Peruvian health system with prevalence of self-medication ranging from 10.5% to 87.8%, during 2000 and 2015 ^{8– 11} .

In Peru, the National Survey on User Satisfaction of Health Services ( Encuesta Nacional de Satisfacción de Usuarios en Salud, ENSUSALUD) has been conducted since 2014, this survey includes information related to the purchase of medicines and its results are nationally representative ¹² ; however, to our best knowledge, studies using this survey have not been conducted. Such studies might assess a very frequent practice in the country such as the purchase of medicines without medical prescription.

To that effect, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of purchasing medicines which required a medical prescription in Peru without prescription, to know their characteristics, and to identify factors related to this practice.

The Module of Pharmacies’ Users of ENSUSALUD included a total of 3858 survey respondents (expanded population: 3,529,791), of that 1892 participants purchased at least one prescription medicine without medical prescription, which represents a prevalence of 47.2% (95% CI: 45.3-49.1). The average age of the survey respondents who purchased without medical prescription was 38.4 ± 14.1. The survey respondents with private health insurance (57%), with university education (51.4%), who are residents of the Highlands region (57.1%) purchased more often without a medical prescription ( Table 1). Additionally, the pharmacist in 69.6% of the purchases did not enquire for a prescription.

The precedent of previously using the medicine (31.6%), the delay in obtaining an appointment for health care (26.9%), and the delay for health care in health centers (21.5%) were the main causes of purchasing prescription medicines without medical prescription. Regarding the individual who recommended the purchased medicine ( Table 2), a piece of advice of a salesperson of pharmacy/pharmacist, recalling a previous prescription and a piece of advice of a relative, were the more frequent reasons (38.3%, 25.9%, and 11.7%, respectively).

Bivariate analysis found an association with a value p<0.2 between the purchase of medicines without prescription and all variables of the study ( Table 3). The multivariate analysis showed that being in an age between 25-44 (PRa: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.01-1.22); living in the Highlands region (PRa: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.24-1.57) and Jungle region (PRa: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.23-1.52); and the consumption of purchased products themselves; were associated with a greater prevalence of purchasing medicines without a prescription. Furthermore, having Comprehensive Health Insurance (SIS, for Spanish) (PRa: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.83-0.98) and the pharmacist requesting a prescription (PRa 0.12; 95% CI: 0.10-0.15) were associated with a lower prevalence of purchasing without a prescription for the adjusted model ( Table 3).

In this study, a high prevalence of purchasing prescription medicines without medical prescription was found according to the National Authority data. This practice was associated to the age group ranging from 25 to 44 years, inhabitants of the Highlands and Jungle regions, and when the purchase was for self-consumption. Having Comprehensive Health Insurance (SIS) and the pharmacist requesting a prescription would be factors that decrease the prevalence of purchase without prescription. Finally, the advice of the pharmacist, a salesperson of the pharmacy and/or any relative, and the previous use of the medication are cited information sources for the user going to a pharmacy to purchase a medicine without prescription.

Self-medication and the acquisition of medicines without prescription are common worldwide, with a prevalence range varying between 19% and 83% ^{3, 16– 18} . The Peruvian natural regions of Highlands and Jungle showed the highest incidences of these practices. Inadequate and non-effective access to medicines has been a common problem in Peru over recent years ¹⁹ , existing in the previously mentioned regions ⁷ , which would explain the results found in these regions of the country.

Among the reasons for the purchase of medicines without prescription, the delay to make an appointment or delay in receiving health care at the health center, and previous knowledge of the medicine to be purchased stand out as the most important in our results; this situation was previously reported in national ²⁰ and international ^{21, 22} studies. That would reflect the discontent of the users regarding the health service in the Peruvian health centers, where an average of 18 days is expected to make an appointment and 104 minutes to be treated in an outpatient visit after their arrival to the health center for 2015 ²³ .

The practice of purchasing medicines in the surveyed users is mainly focused on self-consumption. It is reported that most of these self-medication practices are developed in the context of self-consumption or for people under someone’s care, like children and elderly people ⁴ . A study carried out in eight Latin American countries about responsible self-medication showed that users have a positive attitude towards health care, they recognize that over-the-counter medicines are less dangerous than prescription medicine, they are also interested in reading the labels of the products to be informed about the possible adverse effects ²⁴ . Thus, with a proper previous education for participants regarding the rational use of medicines, self-medication could produce potential benefits, like the improvement to the access to over-the-counter medicines, greater patient empowerment, and avoidance of unnecessary medical appointments amongst others ^{25, 26} .

The control of the pharmacies over the sale of prescription products is important, including antimicrobial medication due to the reported increase in the resistance to these products related to self-medication. This situation occurs both in developed and developing countries ^{11, 26, 27} . Regarding a recommendation for the purchase of medicines, the pharmacist or salesperson of the pharmacy was the person that mainly provided this information. This situation has been previously reported in other regions around the world ³ . Previous conducted studies in the country report the recommendation of medicines other than those in the prescription or a change of prescription, including antibiotics, by the pharmacist or personnel of pharmacies, despite they are not entitled for these practices ^{28, 29} . The advice of a relative and the previous consumption of a medicine are other important sources of recommendation for the purchase without prescription. Studies performed in a district of Metropolitan Lima, capital city of Peru, and in Cajamarca, had the same findings ^{8, 11} . One of the main problems of this practice is the consumption of medicines that require prescription, such as antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance has been shown to be associated with inappropriate antibiotic prescription, either for the wrong indication or incorrect duration of treatment ^{16, 30, 31} . Allergies to drugs or use of antibiotics to treat viral diseases are other frequent problems ^{28, 29} .

From these finding it can be seen that it is crucial to apply measures that guarantee effective access to medicines in health facilities, and to establish procedures that allow verification of proper practices in the purchase of prescription medicines in private pharmacies. The proposals should be an initiative of the national health authority (Ministry of Health) in order to end this phenomenon, taking into consideration the characteristics of people who purchase medicines without prescription.

Among the measures to be included in such a policy are: rationalization of the medicines provision and improvements in the main four stages of the medicines management cycle (selection, purchase, distribution, and use) through actions like: the development of information and control systems; the implementation of proper storage mechanisms and development of clinical practice guidebooks procedures (to promote rational prescription); optimization of the efficiency of investments in supply systems for public provision of medicines; implementation of centralized medication purchases; national and joint international bidding to reduce drug prices; rational prescription, distribution and consumption; among others ³² .

The national representation of the results and the characterization of each one of the medicines to establish if they require a medical prescription for their purchase are the main strengthens of the study. Also, this is one of the first studies in the country to analyze the relation between socioeconomic factors and the purchase of prescription medicines without medical prescription at national level. However, given that it is a data analysis from secondary sources, there is a possibility that the collected data are not accurate. Because the self-medication item was self-reported causing memory bias, and for drugs for special control, like opioids, causing non-response bias. Another limitation is that it does not allow to establish a causal connection due to the cross-sectional design of the study. Also, ENSUSALUD does not include some morbidity variables in the literature that can affect results ¹⁷ .

Despite that, we consider that our analysis is a good approach to the study of this problem, which represents a greater negative impact in countries with segmented health systems or in developing countries, as in the Peruvian case.

In conclusion, the purchase of prescription medicines without medical prescription is a common practice within the Peruvian health system and is more frequent in regions with a lower supply of medical facilities or access to health services. The development of future programs that allow and/or limit the access to medicines should evaluate the current practices of sale of products without the required prescription in the Peruvian population and the practices of self-medication to strengthen the sale control of these products and improve the access in regions in greater need.

The 2016 Encuesta Nacional de Satisfacción de Usuarios en Salud (ENSUSALUD) data are available at from the National Superintendency of Health ( Superintendencia Nacional de Salud, SUSALUD) website: http://portal.susalud.gob.pe/blog/base-de-datos-2016/