Impact of Social Media on the Prescription of Nutricosmetics by Brazilian Pharmacists on Instagram

Abstract

In Brazil, the demand for functional foods has been progressively increasing, leading to the emergence of new food concepts such as nutraceuticals and nutricosmetics. Legally, pharmacists can prescribe dietary supplements. Social media platforms have been used for information dissemination, resulting in a rise in the number of Instagram profiles featuring posts about nutricosmetics. This article analyzed the profiles of 20 pharmacist digital influencers on Instagram quantitatively, descriptively, documentally, cross-sectionally, and retrospectively. According to the guidelines of the new Pharmacist Code of Ethics (2022), the main areas with low adherence by professionals were the absence of registration numbers with the Conselho Regional de Farmácia (95%); low numbers of publications with proper bibliographic citation (41%); and content that encouraged readers to misuse and indiscriminately use dietary supplements (18%). Conversely, only a small sample disseminated content without proper scientific evidence (5%). In this context, it is hoped that this work will demonstrate the importance of ethical and scientific conduct regarding pharmaceutical guidance for the rational use of nutricosmetics, aiming to promote patient health and well-being.