ArticleSaudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society2019
Assessment of patient counselling on the common cold treatment at Slovak community pharmacies using mystery shopping.
Article in Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of patient age on the pharmacist's recommendation of OTC anti-common cold products before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Medication Recommendation, Counseling, and Pricing for Nasal Sprays in German Community Pharmacies: A Simulated Patient Investigation.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2025Article
- A qualitative non-participant observational study of non-prescription counseling in community pharmacies.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Assessment of the operation status of electronic prescription at community pharmacies in Chengdu, China: a simulated patient study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Evaluation of pharmacist's practices regarding the antimicrobials dispensing: a simulated patient study.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Perception of community pharmacists about the work process of drug dispensing: a cross-sectional survey study.BMC health services research · 2022Review
- The Quality of Counseling for Headache OTC Medications in German Community Pharmacies Using a Simulated Patient Approach: Are There Differences between Self-Purchase and Purchase for a Third Party?TheScientificWorldJournal · 2022Article
- Pharmacist's recommendations of over-the-counter treatments for the common cold - analysis of prospective cases in Poland.BMC family practice · 2021Article
- Medication Counseling Practices in Medicine Retail Outlets Found in Bench Sheko Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, South West Ethiopia.Pragmatic and observational research · 2021Article
- Quality of Pharmaceutical Services in Independent Pharmacies and Pharmacy Chains in Poland from the Patient Perspective.Patient preference and adherence · 2020Article
- A pseudo-customer cross-sectional study to evaluate the community pharmacist's management of migraine in pregnant women.Pharmacy practiceArticle
- Evaluation of Community Pharmacists' Professional Practice and Management of Patient's Respiratory Conditions.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciencesArticle
- The competency of Indonesian pharmacy students in handling a self-medication request for a cough: a simulated patient study.Pharmacy practiceArticle
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUp to now, there have been no data on patient counselling in the Slovak community pharmacies. The literature provides a wide range of activities for which mystery shopping methodology be used, including assessment of patient counselling. AIMS AND
objectivesTo assess patient counselling on the common cold treatment with OTC medicine containing zinc provided by Slovak community pharmacists. To analyse this counselling considering the set scenarios, counsellors and their age.
methods54 pharmacy students visited 270 different community pharmacies throughout Slovakia in 2 weeks in October 2016 to conduct mystery shopping with set scenarios. For assessment of patient counselling, we defined Counselling Performance. It was conceptualised as weighted mean percentage counselling successes rate of its three categories (Identification, Information and Communication) and their weights. Individual perception of counselling evaluated separately. Student
resultsThe total Counselling Performance was 39.0 ± 22.4%, Identification 30.6 ± 28.7%, Information 39.8 ± 25.1% and Communication 74.3 ± 11.5%. 26.3% pharmacies achieved the average Counselling Performance (41-60%). Subjective Perception had a success rate of 73.4 ± 21.2%, but it could be predicted by the Counselling Performance and the success rate of the three categories only in 1/5 pharmacies. Spontaneous counselling was provided more by pharmacy technicians (p = 0.0009). The duration of counselling was similar when comparing both scenarios, counsellors and their age. The product-requested scenario achieved a higher success rate in the Information category (p = 0.0304; d = 0.27). Pharmacists achieved a higher Counselling Performance (p < 0.0001; d = 0.48) and success rate in categories Identification (p = 0.0001, d = 0.46), Information (p = 0.0004, d = 0.37), and Perception (p = 0.0007; d = 0.54). The estimated age of counsellors did not have any impact on the counselling.
conclusionPatient counselling on the common cold showed a suboptimal level, particularly considering its content. In the study, we found a significant relationship between the success of counselling and counsellors.
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