Abstract :
BACKGROUND: Patient self-medication is the treatment of minor and self-limiting conditions with over thecounter (OTC) medications without direct physician recommendations.
AIM: To characterize patients use of OTC therapy and to assess role of pharmacist in prescribing over the counter
drugs.
METHOD: Descriptive prospective observational study was done using structured questionnaires. 200 patients were
included in study.
RESULTS: Of all the participants more than 90 % not aware that pharmacists could safely recommend OTC
medications, the majority were interested in a pharmacist-guided OTC therapy service.
CONCLUSION: Patients demonstrated good awareness about some aspects of pharmacist roles and generally
responded favorably when considering confidence in pharmacist knowledge and comfort with medication
dispensing. The majority of these patients were interested in a pharmacist-guided OTC service for self-medication if
it were available to them.
Keyword :
OTC, Role of pharmacist, Self medication.