Self-Medication of Dyspepsia: How Appropriate Is It?

Abstract

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs for dyspepsia are likely to be used improperly. A physician's advice on the use of OTC dyspepsia drugs, in addition to detailed printed information about drug action and proper administration, would be important means to guarantee appropriate use of these drugs.

Do Finnish women using hormone replacement therapy need more information about risks

“…We achieved a response rate of 63%, which compares favourably with response rates of about 50% usually obtained with this method (for example, a study concerning self-medication for upper gastrointestinal symptoms had a response rate of 53% [22]). However, women have responded well in studies with this method: for example, Sihvo et al [15] in their study of vaginal antifungal drugs had a response rate of 66%.…”

Information sources used by women in Finland who use hormonal contraceptives

“…In the vaginal antifungal drugs study by Sihvo et al [15,22], the response rate was 66%, and in the same authors' study concerning dyspepsia the response rate was 53%. In our previous survey concerning HRT users, the response rate was 67% [16].…”

Customers’ and physicians’ opinions of and experiences with generic substitution during the first year in Finland

“…The response rate has varied between 10 and 60% when the same method has been used in other studies in Finland. In addition, the response rates are dependent on the pharmacy customer group; for example, in studies directed to women the response rates are higher compared with studies directed to all customers [20,21].…”