The contribution of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines sales data from pharmacies for public health (PH) has previously attracted interest in the UK. In this study, data for several OTC medicines were utilised to explore their contribution to (a) understand the impact of medicine reclassification or increased regulation on supply and (b) the surveillance of infectious diseases in the community in Wales. Following the reclassification of ophthalmic chloramphenicol (June 2005) an increase in primary care supply (OTC + prescription) of 54% (47,026 units) in eye drops and 29% (15,657 units) in eye ointment were observed (2004 to 2010). Despite this increase the items of eye drops prescribed were similar 12 months before and five years after the reclassification. The impact of regulatory changes concerning the non-prescription sale of opioid-containing analgesics was studied. In the 12 months following September 2009 legislative changes there was a significant fall in sales of codeine- and dihydrocodeinecontaining solid oral dosage forms (p<0.05). Similarly, following the pack size restriction of non-prescription pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products (April 2008), significant (p<0.05) year-on-year reductions in the total weight of pseudoephedrine sold were observed. Sales of non-prescription ophthalmic chloramphenicol were monitored on a small area basis in two areas with known outbreaks of infective conjunctivitis. In both areas sales data did not demonstrate the required sensitivity. When monitoring seasonal influenza, significant positive correlations were observed between cough/cold/flu medicines sales and indicators of influenza activity in Wales. In alignment with the professional standards for PH practice for pharmacy produced by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the work undertaken demonstrated a number of potential uses of medicines sales data for PH. Routine data collection, particularly if captured at time/point of sale, would further enhance its usefulness in detecting and tracking PH incidents.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:600580 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Du, Hank C. T. |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/58915/ |
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