Background and objectives: Self-medication is a global phenomenon in both developed and emerging countries. At present, data regarding the practice, patterns, and factors associated with self-medication in Romanian patient groups of various ages and health are relatively scarce. A pilot study that uses a questionnaire was conducted to observe the attitudes as well as the behaviors of a group of Romanian parents related to self-medication, specifically their beliefs and perceived risks of the administration of medicine to their children without medical advice, frequency of self-medications, symptoms, and types of medications most commonly used without medical advice. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire was sent via e-mail or WhatsApp link on a mobile phone using the existing data at the general practitioner’s office together with the protection of data form and the informed consent form; some participants completed the questionnaire when they came for a regular visit at the general practitioner’s office. Of 246 applied questionnaires, we had a rate of responses of 98%. Results: We found a high percentage (70%) of parents who self-medicate their children. The data reveals a significant relation between parents’ beliefs on self-medication and their tendency to administrate drugs to their children without medical advice. A significant relation was also found between the likelihood of parental self-medication for their children and the number of illnesses experienced by their children over the six-month period prior to the survey. Even when parents have a correct understanding of self-medication risks, these are not aligned with actual behavior; therefore, parents continue to administer drugs to their children without medical advice. Conclusions: Our study helps to describe the patterns of parents’ decisions about self-medicating their children and to identify parents who are more predisposed to administering self-medication to their children.

Self-medication represents a significant healthcare and health policy issue worldwide, both in developed and underdeveloped countries. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is considered a relevant context that could subtly trigger self-medication behavior because of limited access to health care services and the threat of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While the previous research conducted with quantitative methodologies reported a dramatically increased rate of self-medication around the world, qualitative inquiries on the subjective experience with self-medicine remain scarce in medical and related fields of study. For this purpose, a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was undertaken to better understand how Romanian mothers (n = 18) applied self-treatment with their children by avoiding medical advice during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic did not affect the prevalence of self-medicine among the pediatric population as parents achieved a degree of awareness of self-treatment of their children due to the general context of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background and Objectives: Health professionals have voiced concerns about the danger of self-medication in times of growing use of over-the-counter medicines and, in some contexts, the unregulated selling of them. Previous research has examined the incidence of parental self-medication as well as the use and abuse of antibiotics without medical advice. However, these studies have limited evidence on the role of family doctors and the perceived severity of self-medication in the case of parents. Based on the Health Belief Model, our research tested the effects of exposure to medical information on the parents’ attitudes toward self-treating their children, without medical advice. Specifically, we aimed to assess whether exposure to information warning about the risks of treating children without a medical prescription influences parents’ attitudes toward administering medicines to their children without medical advice. Materials and Methods: 210 parents engaged in the study, and were divided into two groups. One group was exposed to educational materials related to the perils of self-medication and the second one was not. All participants answered the same questionnaire and the answers were compared between the two groups. Results: The results showed that our respondents evaluated the practices of self-medication negatively (a higher score indicates a more negative evaluation), especially when it came to treating their children without medical advice (3.91 ± 1.04 for unexposed and 3.98 ± 1.08 for exposed). However, their attitudes towards self-medication varied depending on their beliefs about administering certain medications. Both those exposed to the warning information and those who were not exposed have agreed that they are unable to avoid treatment of their ill child without medical advice. Conclusions: In general, our respondents evaluate negatively the practices of self-medication, especially the treatment of their children without medical advice. Therefore, future health education campaigns need to be targeted specifically, with messages that guide how to act in particular cases depending on the medication used and the child’s condition.

As consumption has become a major aspect that characterizes the life of people currently aged 55 and older, fervent public and academic debates have been raised around the accurate portrayal of seniors in advertising. While most of the previous quantitative and qualitative research highlighted the inappropriate ways of representing elders and the unsuitable framing of advertising claims, little research has been done so far to understand which are seniors’ expectations regarding their portrayal in current advertising campaigns. Based on in-depth interviews with Romanian adults of the 55+ generation, this paper investigates how seniors understand ageing with respect to the manner in which they have been depicted in nowadays advertising and what are the detailed features of the offensive or inoffensive advertising campaigns targeting them. The findings revealed that participants that lost their status during ageing favor the use of chronological rather than cognitive images of their age. Additionally, the running of the natural surroundings in advertising were found as empowering for both the young and the older adults of our research.

Research studies from various disciplines including sociology, psychology, social psychology, marketing, advertising and media research have analyzed the representation of old-aged people in advertising, as well as the consumers’ habits of a targeted population aged 50 and over. Despite the availability of data on inappropriate depiction of seniors in media (including advertising), little research has been done so far to understand which are the seniors’ preferences regarding their portrayal in certain advertising campaigns. The aim of the current study was to explore the preferences of middle-aged adults toward the representation of old age in advertising. Specifically, we tested whether there is a relationship between the preferences of Romanians gym-goers (45-60 years) on age-related advertising and their body image. The results showed that the middle-aged adults prefer models that do not necessary match their age, that is the young older model. Our data also revealed that the choices for age representations in advertising were not associated with respondents’ body image emotions in certain contexts or situations. No significant relationship between body image and preference towards age-related representations in advertising was obtained. Additionally, the analysis of the data also revealed that compared to men, women are more likely to express displeasure with their body weights, and they believe the body image strongly impacts their self-esteem during life.