Mésusage du paracétamol en soins primaires : étude transversale dans un contexte rural français

Abstract

To estimate the prevalence of the paracetamol use for a reason other than pain (qualitative misuse) during the last 12months in patients consulting their general practitioner, as well as the reasons for this misuse. Descriptive cross-sectional analysis, with gender weighting to estimate the prevalence of paracetamol misuse. In total, data from 209 patients were included in the analysis. Among them, 11 patients declared having taken paracetamol for a reason other than pain, i.e., a gender-weighted prevalence of 5.7% (95% CI: 3.0 to 10.4). Nearly two-thirds of these patients said they had done it to feel better. The paracetamol misuse is rare but real in general practice. Further studies are needed to better understand it, especially qualitative studies.