ArticlePharmacy (Basel, Switzerland)2023
Consumer Impressions of the Safety and Effectiveness of OTC Medicines.
Article in Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Navigating Global Regulatory Divergence in Over-the-counter Drugs: Addressing Emerging Risks and Harmonization Challenges.Current drug research reviews · 2026Review
- Attitudes and Behaviors of the Public Toward over the Counter (OTC) Medications in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Pharmacists' Perspectives on Nicotine Vaping Products (NVPs) for Smoking Cessation in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Consumer Likelihood to Seek Information on OTC Medicines.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Minor Ailments in Older Adults: A Study of Prevalence and Health-Related Behaviors.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
- A digital health kiosk is acceptable, usable, and improves decisions about high-risk over-the-counter medications when used by older adults: Results of formative user testing.Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhAArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The public generally believes OTC medicines to be helpful for treating minor ailments. From a survey point of view, that position often originates from feedback obtained when these medicines are considered as one broad category. The objective of the study was to assess the properties of 15 categories of agents across three dimensions-effectiveness, safety, and familiarity. Data were gathered via an online non-random survey in one Canadian province, where residents were asked to consider 15 OTC medicine categories in terms of those dimensions. Five hundred and seventy-five completed surveys were obtained out of 3000 sent. On the 10-point effectiveness scale, values ranged from 5.1 (Athlete's foot cream) to 7.3 (headache medicine). For safety, the medicines were closely grouped (6.0 to 7.4). Cough syrups for children were perceived as less safe than those for adults. There was a trend in that, as product familiarity grew, so did impressions of safety and effectiveness. The results support other reports where OTC medicines are described as safe and effective, although safety ratings were not particularly high. Responders considered these medicines to generally be higher in safety than effectiveness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.