Table 4. The types and amount of advice provided from patient simulation study.
| The types of advice provided | Symptom-based requests for ACE inhibitor-induced cough (n=76) | Product-based requests for ACE inhibitor-induced cough (n=69) | Symptom-based requests for a simple, acute childhood diarrhoea (n=80) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical referral | 5 | (7%)* | 0 | (0%) | 15 | (19%)$ |
| Product recommendation | 75 | (99%) | 64 | (93%)^ | 65 | (81%) |
| Medicine information | 17 | (22%) | 0 | (0%) | 46 | (58%) |
| •The purpose of treatment | 1 | (1%) | 0 | (0%) | 0 | (0%) |
| •How to use the medicine(s) | 13 | (17%) | 0 | (0%) | 29 | (36%) |
| •Duration of treatment | 0 | (0%) | 0 | (0%) | 2 | (3)% |
| •The purpose of treatment and how to use the medicine(s) | 3 | (4%) | 0 | (0%) | 3 | (4%) |
| •How to use the medicine(s) and duration of treatment | 0 | (0%) | 0 | (0%) | 10 | (13%) |
| •The purpose of treatment, how to use the medicine(s), and duration of treatment | 0 | (0%) | 0 | (0%) | 2 | (3%) |
| •Possible side effects | 0 | (0%) | 0 | (0%) | 0 | (0%) |
| Non-pharmacological advice | 1 | (1%) | 0 | (0%) | 5 | (6%) |
| Other | ||||||
| •The product requested was not available and no advice was provided. | 0 | (0%) | 5 | (7%) | 0 | (0%) |
*
Total includes one encounter with medical referral only and four where medical referral was recommended as a follow up (i.e., if symptom persisted after using the medication recommended).
$
In all 15 encounters, medical referral was the only advice provided.
^
The percentage of pharmacy staff selling the requested product.