This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/61347/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. Misuse of Over the Counter (OTC) Medicines in Community Pharmacies in Scotland AbstractThe general public are taking more responsibility for their health, using community pharmacy as a source to access medication.There is a reported increase and change in the misuse of OTC medication from community pharmacies in Scotland (Wright et al, 2015).This article was designed to examine the self-reported use of medication from a small sample of community pharmacies in Scotland. The questionnaire gathered patient demographics and details of medicines used.The study concentrated on 2 treatment areas, opioid analgesics and sedative antihistamines licensed as a sleep aid. Both previously identified as the most prevalent OTC medications that were perceived to being misused (Matheson et al, 2007) Data was collected over a short time period in 2015 from 15 community pharmacies. The data demonstrates the widespread misuse of OTC. The most prevalent group identified as females, 41-60 years old and employed. It was most commonly reported that the recommended treatment duration is exceeded rather than the maximum recommended daily dose.The recommendations from the article are that there needs to be greater awareness for pharmacists, pharmacy staff and general public on the potential dangers of misusing OTC medications and the importance of adhering to the recommended dosing and duration guidelines.