Opinion of community pharmacists on use of nonprescription medications in Alexandria, Egypt

BACKGROUND: Many studies have reported the use of over-the counter (OTC) or nonprescription medications (medications that are available to consumers without a prescription) to be inappropriate and associated with risks to consumers. Among healthcare professionals, pharmacists have a key role in providing information and helping customers make a safe choice of nonprescription medicines. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to measure the attitudes and beliefs of community pharmacists toward the use of nonprescription medications by Egyptian customers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among community pharmacies in Alexandria. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 335 pharmacists working in community pharmacies. RESULTS: The use of nonprescription medicine among patients/consumers was reported by 66.9% of pharmacists to have increased in the past 4 years and 94.1% of them considered such a use to be very serious or somewhat serious. Long-term or chronic use was cited by 76.7% of pharmacists as the most common reason for the widespread inappropriate use of nonprescription medications, and 82.4% of the pharmacists considered the most common contributing factor to be lack of knowledge of patients/customers about the active ingredients in a branded product. The most common medications enquired about by patients/consumers were those for cough, cold, or sore throat, as reported by 73.5% of pharmacists, whereas 79.4% of pharmacists reported that patients asked about how to use nonprescription drugs. Sixty percent of pharmacists reported that the main reason that patients/customers did not seek consultation for nonprescription medicines was that they believed that nonprescription medicines were safe, and 52.5% reported that patients believed that taking advice on how to use it was unnecessary. To learn about nonprescription medicine, 93.7% of pharmacists turned to drug product labeling. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Use of nonprescription drugs is a serious problem that has increased over the past few years. Long-term or chronic use of nonprescription medicine was the most common form of inappropriate use of nonprescription medications and lack of knowledge on the part of patients/customers about the active ingredient in a branded product was the most common factor contributing to its inappropriate use. Pharmacists should receive continuous professional education to increase their knowledge on and improve their practice of prescribing nonprescription medication; further, drug companies should be precise when disclosing information on OTC drug labels as the majority of pharmacists consult the drug label as a source of information about OTC. © 2013 Egyptian Public Health Association.