ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners1997
General practitioners' views on the over-the-counter availability of H2-antagonists.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 1997. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association between histamine 2 receptor antagonist use and Clostridium difficile infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2013Pooled it
- Switching of prescription drugs to over-the-counter status: is it a good thing for the elderly?Drugs & aging · 2005Review
- Drug utilization evaluation of nonprescription H2-receptor antagonists and alginate-containing preparations for dyspepsia.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2000Article
- The one-stop dyspepsia clinic--an alternative to open-access endoscopy for patients with dyspepsia.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 1998Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn recent years there has been a trend towards increasing the number of drugs that are available over the counter (OTC) without prescription. Simultaneously, community pharmacists have been encouraged to develop and extend their role. General practitioners (GPs) have been shown to have some reservations about these developments. A group of drugs widely used in general practice, the H2-antagonists, have recently become available OTC.
aimTo examine GPs' attitudes towards community pharmacists dispensing H2-antagonists over the counter (OTC) without prescription.
methodPostal questionnaire to a sample of GPs from inner and outer London, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, Northumberland, Newcastle upon Tyne and Leicestershire.
resultsOf 850 questionnaires sent, 515 were returned, an overall response rate of 60.5%. Fifty four per cent of respondents agreed that cimetidine should be available over the counter for dyspepsia in adults under 45 years not responsive to antacids. Ninety per cent of respondents were aware that H2-antagonists had been deregulated. Most general practitioners learned about the deregulation from professional journals. Very few GPs stated they had changed their prescribing practice since H2-antagonists became available OTC. The high cost to the patient of the OTC product was the most frequently mentioned reason why respondents did not encourage their patients to switch from prescription to OTC H2-antagonists. Worries and concerns regarding the OTC availability of H2-antagonists included masking serious conditions, missed diagnosis, loss of control by the GP and the potential for inappropriate use by patients.
conclusionsSince 1990, there has been a large increase in GPs support for the OTC availability of cimetidine. However, according to their stated behaviour, the reclassification of H2-antagonists does not seem to have changed GPs' prescribing practice, and few appear to be recommending that their patients buy them over the counter.
Indexed as
Identifiers
9101694PMC1312915W1957802307What 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.