Management Of Minor Ailments Research Articles

GPs' attitudes to minor ailments.

It is generally considered that a significant proportion of 'inappropriate' demand for GP services is generated by consultations for minor ailments. How GPs manage minor ailments is likely to affect how patients perceive and handle similar illnesses in the future. Whilst this potentially has significant implications for general practice workload, research investigating GP' attitudes towards minor ailments and their management is sparse. Our aim was to describe GP' experiences and perceptions of minor ailment consultations and their attitudes towards minor ailment management. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 1999, derived from a series of 20 qualitative interviews with practising GPs. The survey was sent to one GP randomly selected from each practice (n = 759) in eight English health authorities. Attitudinal statements were analysed using factor analysis. Four hundred and fourteen GPs (54.5%) completed and returned the questionnaire. Respondents were consulted regularly about minor illness or symptoms, with almost all (95.6%) having experienced a minor ailment consultation in the previous week. Factor analysis suggested four issues to be of importance in determining GP' attitudes to minor ailment management. These were attitudes towards pharmacists, attitudes towards patient empowerment, frustration with minor ailment consultations and attitudes towards caution/risk. Although GPs are clearly frustrated by the level of minor ailment consultations, this study suggests that there may be complex factors which influence their attitudes. For the optimal management of minor ailments, inter-professional relationships potentially are of great importance. With increasing patient demand, it is essential that finite health care resources are accessible, appropriate and used in an optimal way.

Appropriateness measurement: application to advice-giving in community pharmacies

Awareness of variations in the delivery of medical care has resulted in considerable research activity focused on developing measures to assess the appropriateness of health service provision both internationally and within Great Britain. As in other areas of health service provision there is evidence of variation in advice provided alongside sales of non-prescription medicines and variation in response to requests for advice about the treatment of minor ailments within community pharmacies in Great Britain. However, there is little research which has explored the extensive methodological problems associated with developing criteria to assess the appropriateness of these two activities. Following a critical review of relevant existing research, this paper describes a methodology and empirical findings from a study which aimed to develop criteria to measure the appropriateness of advice provided in community pharmacies. Firstly, details of advice-giving episodes occurring between consumers and pharmacists or medicines counter assistants were captured and documented using a combination of audio tape-recording and non-participant observation. Secondly, the nominal group technique was used to develop a set of explicit criteria for assessing the appropriateness of advice. Thirdly, an assessment instrument was developed in order to operationalise the criteria. The devised criteria include both process and output components. We discuss the utility of these criteria in relation to developments in self-medication practice affecting community pharmacy and the deregulation of medicines within the UK. The criteria have been subject to rigorous statistical testing to establish standards of validity and reliability (Ward, Bissell & Noyce, 2000a [Ward, P. R., Bissell, P. & Noyce, P. R. (2000a). Criteria for assessing non-prescription drug therapy in community pharmacy, Annals of Pharmacotherapy (in press).]). The developed criteria will allow us to identify dimensions of both appropriate and inappropriate advice provided in community pharmacies and provide the basis for education and training initiatives identified as a result of the research. In addition, we suggest that this research is highly relevant to informing the content, structure and operationalisation of protocols and/or guidelines associated with the management of minor ailments and the sale of medicines through community pharmacies.

Case studies in community pharmacy: the contribution of family physicians to the teaching of community pharmacy

With the role of pharmacists changing in recent years to encompass greater involvement in patient care, pharmacy teaching has also changed to meet the need. At the National University of Singapore, the Community Pharmacy module includes a lecture series on minor ailments. Family physicians from the Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine were involved in conducting a series of case study sessions to complement the lecture module. This was to give a practical perspective and problem-orientated approach to the material taught in the lectures. Simulated cases of situations commonly encountered in retail pharmacies were used. Students were divided into small groups for case preparation and presentation. Each presentation was followed by discussion, led by the family physicians, who were able to contribute from their training and experience to the students' learning. Feedback from the sessions was generally good. Suggestions were made for future improvement. Family physicians can contribute positively to the training of pharmacy students in the evaluation and management of minor ailments.

Management of minor ailments in primary schoolchildren in rural and urban areas

The concept of self-management in healthcare includes disease prevention, self-diagnosis, self-treatment and appropriate consultation with health care practitioners. Within the context of childrens' ailments the decision-maker will usually be a carer. The aim of this study was to examine carers' management of minor childhood ailments within urban and rural settings. The subjects were primary schoolchildren (4-12 years of age) and the respondents were their parents or carers. Data were gathered using a pre-piloted structured questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed through and collected by the head teachers of the 13 participating schools. Of the 491 questionnaires distributed, 306 (62%) were returned and suitable for analysis. In total, 96 (31%) children had experienced a minor ailment in the preceding 2 weeks; the most commonly reported were cold, headache and gastrointestinal disturbance. Ninety-five respondents indicated how they managed this episode; the most common response was to treat the child with a medicine which they already had in the house (41%). A further 24 obtained a medicine specifically to manage the episode; 12 on prescription and 12 purchased an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine. The majority of respondents (86%) felt that they based their management decision on their own experience, only 10 felt their action was influenced by the advice of a pharmacist or doctor. Fifty children (16%) were reported to have a chronic illness. Several respondents volunteered comments suggesting that they would be cautious in their use of OTC medicines. This study indicates that in the majority of cases, carers manage children's minor ailments without recourse to professional advice.

Management of minor ailments in primary schoolchildren in rural and urban areas

Management of minor ailments in primary schoolchildren in rural and urban areas