Background Guidelines encourage relevant information exchange between pharmaceutical staff and patients during self-medication consultation. Thereby, assessing the patient's situation and providing information is crucial for patient safety. So far, limited studies have investigated this information exchange, particularly in Germany. We aimed to assess the attitude towards and the current practice of guideline-recommended information exchange in German community pharmacies.

Background Drug-related problems (DRPs) endanger geriatric patients' safety. Especially a follow-up treatment with increased number of care transitions is a critical time for patients. Objective This study aimed at optimising medication therapy and the transfer of medication-related information to ambulatory care in geriatric rehabilitation patients. Setting German geriatric rehabilitation centre (GRC). Method A prospective, controlled intervention study was performed. Patients in the control group (CG) received standard care, those in the intervention group (IG) an additional dual pharmaceutical intervention: (i) medication review to optimise in-hospital medication and (ii) improvement of discharge letters for optimising transfer of medication-related information. Main outcome measure (i) Number of patients with at least one DRP at discharge and (ii) predefined quality criteria for the discharge letters. Results 150 patients were enrolled in CG and 163 in IG. (i) At discharge, 126 (84%) patients in the CG were affected by at least one DRP. In the IG, the number of affected patients decreased to 64 (39%, P < 0.05). (ii) In comparison to discharge letters in the CG, predefined quality criteria were improved in the IG. Following differences were measured (CG vs. IG, each P < 0.05): active ingredient indicated (60 vs. 99%), brand name indicated (60 vs. 96%), explanation of medication changes (47 vs. 68%), visualisation of explanations next to the discharge medication (26 vs. 91%) and recommended therapy duration for short-term medications (49 vs. 84%). Conclusion DRPs and incomplete discharge letters affected many patients. The dual intervention improved in-hospital medication therapy and optimised the transfer of medication-related information.

What is known and objective: Evidence from clinical trials should form the foundation of healthcare advice. Comparatively little has been investigated about the implementation of evidence in over-the-counter (OTC) counselling in community pharmacies. The objective of this study was to explore the current impact of clinical trials on OTC counselling from the perspective of pharmaceutical staff. Methods: Pharmaceutical staff in German community pharmacies were invited to participate in a nationwide cross-sectional survey using SoSci Survey. Within the questionnaire, the following items were queried: (i) attitudes towards influencing factors on OTC drug recommendation, (ii) practical procedure of OTC drug recommendations, (iii) experiences and challenges in handling clinical trials, and (iv) current and desired continuing education on self-medication. Multiple logistic regression was employed to identify predictors for OTC recommendations based on clinical trials in routine. Results and discussion: In total, 1068 participants completed the survey. (i) Clinical trial data were rated as 'very important' for drug recommendations by 33% and as 'rather important' by 50%. (ii) 8% reported that they base their recommendations on clinical trial data 'in almost all consultations', 40% 'in most consultations'. (iii) 69% faced difficulties in including clinical trial data into their counselling. (iv) 7% read original clinical trials at least once a month. Predictors for routine OTC recommendations based on clinical trials were as follows: male gender, university degree, clinical trials considered to be important for recommendations, inclusion of clinical trials in counselling assessed as easy, higher frequency of reading specialized literature per year, increasing number of working pharmacists in the pharmacy, and more casual than regular customers in the pharmacy.What is new and conclusion: Most of the pharmaceutical staff recognize the importance of clinical studies for self-medication advice. Based on self-report, however, clinical trial data are not taken routinely into account in practice. Only a minor