Introduction: Self-medication, has become a usual practice in university students around the world, there is controversy in front of the risks and benefits, because it is necessary to investigate this practice in Barranquilla Colombia. Objective: To determine the practices of self-medication in students of a higher education institution in Colombia. Methods: Descriptive quantitative study, conducted in a private university in Barranquilla, Colombia. A sample of 451 students from the faculties of health sciences, engineering and basic sciences was selected by simple random sampling with a confidence level of 95%, P: 80%, and a margin of error of 0.3. Results: 74% self-medicated, 69% between 19 and 24 years of age, 83% urban area, 50% from the health area, 44% from engineering and 6% from basic sciences. Headache and flu were the most common symptoms. A 77% acquired in pharmacy, 66% sometimes used medications in a prolonged manner without medical supervision, 55% considered that they put their health at risk only sometimes, 83% never presented an adverse reaction after self-medicating, 50% always felt improvement in their symptoms and 45% never increased the dose if their symptoms did not improve Conclusions: It represents risks for public health, which requires cost-effective interventions from public health policies, including sociocultural variants to promote safe self-medication..
Keywords: self-medication, university students, practices..
How to cite this article: De la Cruz Barros P, Coavas Martínez AL, Mauris Polo BC, Cuentas Bolívar LE, Valeencia Polo C, Andrade Hernandez S.; Prácticas de automedicación en estudiantes de una institución privada de Barranquilla Self-medication practices in students of a private institution in Barranquilla..Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(1s): 605-611; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16. 605-611