Nature and frequency of drug‐related problems in self‐medication (over‐the‐counter drugs) in daily community pharmacy practice in Germany

Abstract

In nearly one of five encounters, a direct pharmacist-patient interaction about self-medication revealed relevant DRPs. Having access to patient files including data on prescription and OTC drugs may increase patient safety.

A systematic review in select countries of the role of the pharmacist in consultations and sales of non-prescription medicines in community pharmacy

“…as wrong dosage and drug-drug interactions to be picked up more readily. 79 In some instances patients were the ones who picked up the drug related problems and relayed these to the pharmacy staff 36,69,70 to deal with. A study that audited the number of drug related problems identified depending on whether sales of NPMs in pharmacies occurred over the counter or through a self-service area revealed that on average the identification of drug related problems was 60% higher in the pharmacies selling NPMs over the counter.…”

“…51,69,72,79 This review identified community pharmacy as both a main source of products that are misused but also a setting that provided a unique position to identify misuse. 78,87 The identification of misuse depends on knowing/seeing/being familiar with customers, which in turn was made possible where a pharmacy had a stable workforce especially of frontline staff.…”

Medication use in European primary care patients with lower respiratory tract infection: an observational study

“…4 This overuse of antibiotics has several downsides, including development of bacterial resistance, 5 side effects, 4,6 and costs. 6 Similarly, there is little conclusive evidence for benefits from symptomatic treatments, [7][8][9] which are often used inappropriately 10 and can cause side effects. 7,8 A systematic review on the effectiveness of OTC medications for acute cough found no benefit from codeine or antihistamines.…”

Self Medication Practice Among Urban Slum Dwellers in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka, India

“…Self-medication is a human behaviour, defined as the use of medication by a person to treat his or her own illness/ailment and the usage of a previously prescribed drug for a chronic or recurrent disease or symptoms, without the consultation of a registered medical practitioner and surveillance of treatment [1,2]. Despite having its own demerits, self-medication is an important health policy component of primary health care and patient empowerment [3].…”