Men, health needs and motivations for automation

Abstract

Objective: To describe the health needs of men and the factors that motivate the practice of self-medication in a city in northeastern Brazil. Method: This is a descriptive, exploratory study with a qualitative approach, whose research field was a family health unit in a city in the interior of Bahia, Brazil. The study included men who performed the practice of self-medication, from November 2015 to May 2016. For data collection, we used the semi-structured interview, organized and presented by the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) method. Results: Considering the key expressions and the central ideas of the discourses, two distinct but complementary aspects emerged, the health needs and the motivations for self-medication that pervade issues involving men's conception of public health services. Dissatisfaction with the provision of care, lack of specific programs and easy access to medicines are the main factors that facilitate the practice of self-medication. Conclusions: It is necessary to create mechanisms for strengthening and qualifying Primary Care regarding the importance of quality and comprehensiveness of care, so that men abandon the practice of self-medication and value health prevention.