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Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey

OBJECTIVE: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of the pharmacists toward dispensing the over-the-counter (OTC) medications using questionnaire. MATERIALS AND METHODS: cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice among pharmacists reg...

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Autores principales: Ravichandran, Abinaya, Basavareddy, Asha
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5155479/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28066116
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0253-7613.194857
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author Ravichandran, Abinaya
Basavareddy, Asha
author_facet Ravichandran, Abinaya
Basavareddy, Asha
author_sort Ravichandran, Abinaya
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of the pharmacists toward dispensing the over-the-counter (OTC) medications using questionnaire. MATERIALS AND METHODS: cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice among pharmacists regarding OTC medications. Eighty out of hundred filled questionnaires were received from various pharmacists from medical shops in and around Kolar. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 74.6% responded to the questionnaire. Most of the dispensers (97.3%) at pharmacy were qualified with a D.Pharma/B.Pharma degree. Pharmacists with B.Pharma (80%) were able to define OTC. Majority of them had more than ten consumers taking OTC per week. Among the OTCs dispensed, common were analgesics (75%), antacids (48%), antihistaminics (40%), and others (35%). The choice of OTC brand was made by pharmacists (58.7%) and consumers (41.2%). Most of them (96.5%) asked the consumer's complaints before dispensing the drug, but only few (51%) counseled them regarding the instructions to administer medication. The brand of OTC was influenced by prescriptions of local doctor (60%), consumer's choice (31.2%), cost of the drug (16.7%), and medical representatives (5%). OTCs were safe to dispense, according to 90% of the pharmacists; however, among them, 50% expressed that the consumers should first consult doctor. CONCLUSION: Majority of the pharmacists were qualified to dispense medication, but only few knew about OTC drugs. Analgesics were most commonly used OTC. These drugs were safe to dispense, however, consulting doctor before taking medications was suggested by some of them.
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spelling pubmed-51554792017-01-06 Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey Ravichandran, Abinaya Basavareddy, Asha Indian J Pharmacol Short Communication OBJECTIVE: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of the pharmacists toward dispensing the over-the-counter (OTC) medications using questionnaire. MATERIALS AND METHODS: cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice among pharmacists regarding OTC medications. Eighty out of hundred filled questionnaires were received from various pharmacists from medical shops in and around Kolar. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 74.6% responded to the questionnaire. Most of the dispensers (97.3%) at pharmacy were qualified with a D.Pharma/B.Pharma degree. Pharmacists with B.Pharma (80%) were able to define OTC. Majority of them had more than ten consumers taking OTC per week. Among the OTCs dispensed, common were analgesics (75%), antacids (48%), antihistaminics (40%), and others (35%). The choice of OTC brand was made by pharmacists (58.7%) and consumers (41.2%). Most of them (96.5%) asked the consumer's complaints before dispensing the drug, but only few (51%) counseled them regarding the instructions to administer medication. The brand of OTC was influenced by prescriptions of local doctor (60%), consumer's choice (31.2%), cost of the drug (16.7%), and medical representatives (5%). OTCs were safe to dispense, according to 90% of the pharmacists; however, among them, 50% expressed that the consumers should first consult doctor. CONCLUSION: Majority of the pharmacists were qualified to dispense medication, but only few knew about OTC drugs. Analgesics were most commonly used OTC. These drugs were safe to dispense, however, consulting doctor before taking medications was suggested by some of them. Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2016 /pmc/articles/PMC5155479/ /pubmed/28066116 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0253-7613.194857 Text en Copyright: © Indian Journal of Pharmacology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
spellingShingle Short Communication
Ravichandran, Abinaya
Basavareddy, Asha
Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey
title Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey
title_full Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey
title_fullStr Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey
title_full_unstemmed Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey
title_short Perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: A survey
title_sort perception of pharmacists regarding over-the-counter medication: a survey
topic Short Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5155479/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28066116
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0253-7613.194857
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