Non-adherence to recommended treatment can lead to negative outcomes, such as inefficiency (using dosages lower than prescribed), poisoning (using dosages higher than prescribed), and other adverse reactions.

Keywords Resumo DescritoresObjetive: The regulations on the advertisement of medications aim to encourage and promote an improved health care and the rational use of medications. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the influence of three regulations on the advertisement of medications: the "Export act", published in the United States in 1986; the "WHO's Criteria", published in 1988, and the Resolution 102/2000 of the Collegiate Board of Directors of the ANVISA (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária-Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency), on the advertisement of psychoactive medications. Method: We collected advertisements that were published in Brazilian psychiatric journals before and after the regulations were established. The contents of the advertisements were analyzed according to a program created based on the regulation's demands. Results: In the 118 analyzed issues there were 199 different advertisements on 85 psychotropic drugs. We observed that, regardless the studied medication, the information about restrictions of use, such as adverse drug reactions, interactions, contraindications, warnings and precautions, does not appear very often, and when it does, its print sizes were smaller than that of the information favoring the use, such as indication, presentation and dosage. After the publication of the regulations, only 38.2% of the advertisements had all the essential technical information, and 35.3% were irregular in some way. Conclusion: The data suggest that there was very little influence of the regulations on the advertisement of psychotropic drugs in Brazil. Consequently, other control measures are necessary in addition to the regulations.Advertising. Legislation about drug. Legislation on medication. Psychotropic drugs.Objetivo: Os regulamentos sobre propaganda de medicamentos visam apoiar e fomentar a melhoria da atenção à saúde e o uso racional de medicamentos. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a influência de três regulamentos sobre propaganda de medicamentos: "Export act", publicado em 1986 nos Estados Unidos; os "Critérios da OMS", em 1988 e a Resolução da Diretoria Colegiada n° 102 de 2000 da ANVISA (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária), sobre os anúncios de medicamentos psicoativos. Método: Foram coletados anúncios em periódicos de psiquiatria nacionais, publicados antes e após cada regulamento. O conteúdo dos anúncios foi analisado de acordo com um roteiro de análise de conteúdo elaborado segundo as exigências dos regulamentos. Resultados: Dos 118 fascículos analisados, foram obtidos 199 anúncios diferentes de 85 medicamentos psicoativos. Observou-se que, independentemente do regulamento estudado, as informações que restringem o uso, como reações adversas ao medicamento (RAM), interações, contra-indicações, advertências e precauções estão presentes em menor freqüência e num tamanho de letra menor do que as informações que favorecem o uso, como indicação, apresentação e posologia. Depois de todos os atos publicados apenas 38,2% dos anúncios continham todas as ...

As Reações Adversas a Medicamentos (RAM) podem ser responsáveis por 2,4% a 11,5% das admissões hospitalares. O estudo objetivou conhecer o perfil demográfico dos pacientes internados por possíveis RAM, identificar os medicamentos e as queixas mais freqüentemente relacionadas e estimar a incidência de admissão hospitalar pelo uso de medicamentos. Durante um mês, os pacientes internados em um hospital geral foram entrevistados quanto ao uso de medicamentos antes da internação e as queixas que o levaram ao hospital; as informações foram analisadas, usando-se a base de dados MICROMEDEX® e outras bases oficiais. Observou-se que as admissões por uso de medicamentos ocorreram predominantemente em idosos [47,5% (66/139)] e mulheres [62% (87/139)]. Os medicamentos mais freqüentes foram: omeprazol (16), analgésicos (31), antihipertensivos (31), sinvastatina (7) e formoterol (6); e normalmente os sintomas associados foram do sistema digestório (20,5%), circulatório (20,2%), respiratório (18,2%) e SNC (13,9%). Estima-se que em 15,5% (139/897) das internações, possivelmente, a razão foi o uso de medicamentos. Os dados sugerem medidas de prevenção, como o acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico dos pacientes no âmbito da assistência primária à saúde, principalmente aos idosos, aos portadores de doenças crônicas e aos polimedicados, além da orientação farmacêutica na compra e dispensação de medicamentos, principalmente os isentos de prescrição.Unitermos: Medicamentos/uso racional. Medicamentos/reações adversas. Atenção farmacêutica. Acompanhamento farmacoterapêuticoAccording to the Word Health Organization, adverse drug reactions (ADR) are any harmful and non intentional answer which occurred in doses normally used in human beings. The ADR can be responsible for 2.4% to 11.5% of hospital admissions. Therefore, this study aimed at knowing the admitted patient´s demographic profile due to possible ADR, identifying the most frequent drugs and complaints, and evaluating the incidence of hospital admission related to drug use. Patients who were 18 years old or more and were admitted during a period of one month to a medical clinical of a general hospital were interviewed for one month about drug use before being admitted, as well as regarding to the complaint which led them to hospital. These information were analyzed according to official data, like MICROMEDEX® and WHO criteria as well. It was observed that the admission due to drug use occurred in most part of the cases in elderly [47.5% (66/139)] and women [62% (87/139)]. The most frequent drugs used were: omeprazole (16), analgesics (31), antihypertensive (31), simvastatin (7) and formoterol fumarate (6), and the symptoms were normally associated to the digestive (20.5%), circulatory (20.2%), respiratory (18.2%) and central nervous systems (13.9%). It was estimated that 15.5% (139/897) of the hospital admission occurred possibly due to the drug use. The data found by present study suggests some strategies in order to prevent ADR in the context of primary health care services, such as...

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The goal of this study was to describe the human figures portrayed in psychoactive drug advertising in terms of gender, age, ethnic group, and social context. Content analysis for 86 new pieces of printed advertisements released in 2005 was carried out. Fisher exact test was used to analyze the association between categories. There was a preponderance of women (62.8%) who were four times more present in advertisements for antidepressants and anxyolitics than men. Most of the people shown were Caucasian (98.8%) young adults (72%). These people were pictured in leisure activities (46.5%), at home (29%), or in contact with nature (16.2%). The message conveyed was that the drugs treat routinely felt subjective symptoms of discomfort, inducing in an irrational appeal that may affect drug prescription.