Consumer Impressions of the Safety and Effectiveness of OTC Medicines

Pharmacy · 3 authors, 2 centres

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FIDELITY 100%

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AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

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TL;DR

An online cross-sectional survey of 575 Saskatchewan residents assessed perceived effectiveness, safety, and familiarity across 15 OTC medicine categories on 10-point scales. Consumers perceived OTC medicines as moderately safe and effective, with safety rated higher than effectiveness and a positive correlation between familiarity and favorable ratings.

Full summary

996 CHARS

This cross-sectional, descriptive study assessed consumer perceptions of 15 OTC medicine categories across effectiveness, safety, and familiarity dimensions using an online survey of Saskatchewan residents. Effectiveness ratings ranged from 5.1 (athlete's foot cream) to 7.3 (headache medicine) on a 10-point scale, with 11 of 15 categories above the midpoint of 5.5. Safety ratings were more tightly clustered, from 6.0 (pediatric cough syrups) to 7.4 (multivitamin), all above the midpoint. Children's cough syrups were perceived as 0.5 units less safe than adult versions. Consumers rated all medicines as more safe than effective. Pearson correlations were statistically significant for effectiveness versus safety (r = 0.6), familiarity versus effectiveness (r = 0.4), and familiarity versus safety (r = 0.2). Limitations include the non-random volunteer sample, which was older and more educated than the general population, and concerns about test-retest reliability of the scale measures.

STUDY TYPE

cross-sectional

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10037583

Consumer Impressions of the Safety and Effectiveness of OTC Medicines

Pharmacy

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ABSTRACT

The public generally believes OTC medicines to be helpful for treating minor ailments. From a survey point of view, that position often originates from feedback obtained when these medicines are considered as one broad category. The objective of the study was to assess the properties of 15 categories of agents across three dimensions—effectiveness, safety, and familiarity. Data were gathered via an online non-random survey in one Canadian province, where residents were asked to consider 15 OTC medicine categories in terms of those dimensions. Five hundred and seventy-five completed surveys were obtained out of 3000 sent. On the 10-point effectiveness scale, values ranged from 5.1 (Athlete’s foot cream) to 7.3 (headache medicine). For safety, the medicines were closely grouped (6.0 to 7.4). Cough syrups for children were perceived as less safe than those for adults. There was a trend in that, as product familiarity grew, so did impressions of safety and effectiveness. The results support other reports where OTC medicines are described as safe and effective, although safety ratings were not particularly high. Responders considered these medicines to generally be higher in safety than effectiveness.

CITATION EXPORT

Jeffrey Gordon Taylor, Stephen Ayosanmi, Sujit S. Sansgiry. Consumer Impressions of the Safety and Effectiveness of OTC Medicines. Pharmacy. (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy11020051

AUTHORS

3 · 2 CENTRES

Jeffrey Gordon Taylor, Stephen Ayosanmi, Sujit S. Sansgiry

1College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada
2College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA

EDITOR / REVIEWER

Jon Schommer