The impact of patient age on the pharmacist's recommendation of OTC anti-common cold products before and during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: A pharmacist is the first person to whom a patient, usually with a self-diagnosed disease, comes asking for the most effective over-the-counter treatment in case of difficult or limited access to medical practitioners. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of the patient’s age on the pharmacist’s recommendation of over-the-counter anti-common cold treatment before and during COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: This study is based on a self-developed questionnaire on pharmacists’ recommendations for patients with cold symptoms collected in four large network community pharmacies in Lodz (Poland) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pearson’s chi-square test and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to determine the relationship between the patient’s age and frequency of medication recommendations. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine differences in recommendations between the analyzed periods. Results: We report higher odds of pharmacists’ recommendations (OR>1; p<0.01667) for ibuprofen with pseudoephedrine for 18-40 year-old patients, paracetamol with ascorbic acid and phenylephrine HCL, acetylcysteine, other soluble products and other tablets/capsules for 61-90 year-olds before COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, there were higher odds of recommendations for paracetamol with ascorbic acid and phenylephrine HCL, inosines, other soluble products for 41-60 year olds, homeopathic and herbal products for 61-90 year-old patients during pandemic. Conclusions: Patients, especially older people who take several medications require special attention when being advised OTC medications. Our findings clearly demonstrated the constant need for improving pharmacists’ counselling regarding OTC medicines (i.e. age-, comorbidities- and drug-drug-interaction-adapting recommendations) by training and increasing professional skills.