Survey reveals most frequently recommended OTC drugs

Pharmacy Today released the findings of its annual survey on over-the-counter (OTC) products on Thursday, conducted by the American Pharmacists Association, revealing which OTC products were recommended most frequently by U.S. pharmacists during July 2014.

The survey was published in the February 2015 issue of Pharmacy Today. Over 1,000 working community pharmacists were asked eight OTC questions and given a sequence of 89 product groups, for which they were asked to write how many times a week they recommended every product. The 89 product categories were divided into three separate groups, and each group was sent to one third of the survey participants.

In addition to the most-recommended OTC products, the survey found:

• Pharmacists advised 27 patients a week about OTC medicines

• 92 percent of pharmacists directed patients to the OTC area and helped them select a product

• 72 percent of patients bought the OTC product that was recommended to them

• The average customer consultation took four minutes.

Over 300,000 OTC medications are on the market in the United States, and they are grouped into approximately 80 therapeutic classes.