Background: Safety and efficacy issues regarding over-the-counter cough and cold (CAC) products for use in children have surfaced. Late in 2007 the FDA began reviewing CAC product status for use in children under 6 years old.
Objective: In regards to CAC products for children < 6 years old, to determine pharmacists: 1) comfort level in recommending; 2) attitudes towards behind-the-counter (BTC) status; and 3) level of support for BTC status. An additional objective was to determine how frequently pharmacists were asked for CAC product recommendations for children
Methods: Georgia Pharmacy Association members (2,045) were invited to anonymously participate in a self-administered online survey from January 3 - Feb 6, 2008. Topic areas included demographics, comfort in recommending CAC, and BTC status.
Results: Most responding pharmacists (99.1%) feel pediatric CAC medicine safety problems are due to inappropriate use. More than 50% of chain and independent pharmacists were asked to recommend CAC medicines for children during cold/flu season once a day or less, and 79% reported counseling on less than 50% of total CAC sales. The majority of pharmacists felt comfortable recommending CAC medications when thinking of both safety and efficacy. Most pharmacists supported a BTC condition of sale for children under two for decongestants, antihistamines, and antitussives, and for decongestants and antitussives for children between 2 and 5 years old.
Conclusions: Most pharmacists indicate comfort in recommending CAC despite lack of evidence for safety or efficacy and support BTC status. Pharmacist education on this topic would be useful.