Factors associated with drug consumption without scientific evidence in
patients with mild coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Peru
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the factors associated with the consumption of
drugs without scientific evidence in patients with mild COVID-19
infection in Peru. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study in a
Peruvian population. Patients older than 18 years of age and with a
history of mild COVID-19 disease were included. Factors associated with
drug consumption were evaluated by Poisson regressions with robust
variance adjustment using the bootstrapping resampling method. Results:
Of 372 included participants with history of COVID-19 (75% young, 60%
female), 72% consumed some medication without scientific evidence, with
antibiotics (71%) and ivermectin for human use (68%) being the most
commonly used. Factors associated with the consumption of drugs to treat
mild COVID-19 infection were thinking that the drugs are not effective
(PRa:0.55; 95% CI:0.41-0.74) and not being informed about the efficacy
of the drugs (PRa:0.48; 95% CI:0.36-0.65). When evaluating the
consumption of the most commonly used drugs, thinking that they are not
effective and not being informed about their efficacy were associated
with lower consumption of both antibiotics and ivermectin. Likewise,
belonging to the lower social class and residing in the jungle region
were associated with higher consumption of antibiotics and ivermectin,
respectively. Conclusion: More than 70% of the participants reported
some consumption of medications to treat mild COVID-19 infection, with
antibiotics and ivermectin being the most commonly used. Thinking that
medications are ineffective and being uninformed on the subject were
associated with lower medication consumption.