Demanda de antibióticos sin prescripción en la farmacia comunitaria. Descripción de la intervención del farmacéutico

Abstract

ObjectivesTo quantify the proportion of oral antibiotics requests without prescription in Community Pharmacy (CP) and to analyse it causes. MethodCross-sectional multicentre study carried out in Spanish community pharmacies during 4 weeks, one in each season of the year. Oral J01 antibiotics (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification, ATC) requested for self-medication were analysed. Results247 pharmacies and 365 pharmacists participated in the study, 1172 antibiotic requests were recorded.More frequent requests for antibiotic self-medication were: previous treatment for the same symptoms (63.1%), insufficient time for a general practitioner (GP) consultation (12.1%) and patient belief that GP is going to prescribe the antibiotic (4.9%).Higher number of generic medication were requested compared to brand medication (41.1 versus 34.9%). Active ingredients commonly requested were amoxicillin (28.2%), amoxicillin-clavulanic (14.9%) and phosphomycin (21.8%) to treat upper respiratory related infections (35.1%), urinary infections (28.1%) and teeth infections (20.2%).2406 pharmacists’ interventions were carried out: referring to the GP (40.8%), information for correct use of medication (31.3%), non-pharmacological treatment (15.7%), and recommendation of a different medication (6.9%) or a different product (5.3%). ConclusionsNowadays higher number of active ingredients than brands are requested when selecting a treatment for an infection, mainly β-lactams and macrolides. Majority of self-medication tried to treat upper respiratory infections, urinary and teeth infections. Most frequent pharmacists’ intervention was referring to the GP to obtain a correct diagnosis and treatment.