Characterisation of patient encounters in community pharmacies (with special focus on self-medication).

TLDR: To characterise patient encounters during routine drug dispensing in community pharmacies, a large number of patients have had at least one adverse experience with a prescription drug in the past year.

Abstract: Objectives To characterise patient encounters during routine drug dispensing in community pharmacies. Methods Cross-sectional survey in community pharmacies (Belgium). Key findings Fifty-four per cent of all encounters (N = 1650) concerned patients carrying a prescription, of which 39% were prescriptions for new medication and 61% were repeat prescriptions. In 62% of all encounters, patients asked for non-prescribed medication. Almost one-third of self-medication requests related to special patient populations (mainly children and elderly). Conclusions  Many encounters related to self-medication, and a substantial number of these self-medication requests concerned vulnerable patient populations.