| Summary: | Introduction: self-medication can relieve symptoms and diseases at a lower cost. However, this can lead to losses such as inappropriate therapies, intoxications and dependence.
Objective: to estimate the prevalence, motivators and factors associated with self-medication in adults and the elderly treated in Primary Health Care.
Methods: cross-sectional study carried out from May to August 2019. The statistics comprised the calculation of the prevalence of self-medication, with a recall period of 30 days and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). In order to check the adjusted factors, crude and adjusted Prevalence Ratios (PR) were calculated.
Results: the sample consisted of 1,365 users, with an outcome prevalence of 55% (95% CI: 53-58), which was higher in women (PR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.17-1.52), adults (PR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.14-1.41) and in those with 12 or more years of study (PR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.09-1.37). The main motivators were pain (89%), flu, cold and sore throat (18.9%) and fever (6.9%).
Conclusion: there was an important prevalence of self-medication, especially in women, young people and those with higher education. Considering the risks, the need for public policies to prevent the indiscriminate use of medicines is highlighted.
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