Drug Topics - March 10, 2008 - (Page 64) 64 DRUG TOPICS MARCH 10, 2008 www.drugtopics.com Self-Care Featuring this month: Allergy relief What OTCs do R.Phs. recommend for allergies? Sandra Levy pring is right around the corner. That means patients will be seeking advice about over-thecounter items for allergies. The big news is pharmacists report that patients will need more counseling about Zyrtec now that it is available OTC. This finding comes from an exclusive Drug Topics survey of a sampling of pharmacists in chain, independent, and other settings. To view the full survey results, go to www.drugtopics.com and click on Drug Topics Exclusive Survey. Conducted by Advanstar Communications Research Services, the online survey was fielded in late January and closed in early February. It obtained a total of 244 usable replies. S strongly agree that customers will need more counseling about the product, 45% said they mostly agree, and 26% stated they somewhat agree with the statement. Only 8% disagreed and 1% strongly disagreed that patients will need more counseling about Zyrtec OTC. When it comes to counseling patients on allergy medications, respondents said they counsel an average of 30 patients a week during allergy season. In terms of time spent on counseling, respondents averaged 3.2 minutes per session. Seeking words of wisdom Who gets the dialogue going? Customers aren’t bashful about initiating a dialogue with R.Ph.s. Some 81% of pharmacists reported that customers typically initiate the conversation. Pharmacists begin these interactions only 19% of the time. Pharmacists who live in the Southwest appear to counsel most patients per week during allergy season, while those in the Southeast counsel the least number of patients. Do patients hang on R.Ph.s. words? Some 37% of respondents mentioned that patients “almost always” follow their advice on OTC allergy products, 58% said patients “frequently” take their words to heart, and 4% reported that patients “sometimes” heed their advice. R.Ph.s give OTC Zyrtec the nod Four out of 10 respondents to Drug Topics’ 2007 Allergy Survey said they strongly approve of Zyrtec becoming an OTC product, 47% said they approve the move, 10% stated that they somewhat approve the switch, 1% shook their head in disapproval, and 1% asserted that they strongly disapprove of it. When asked to indicate reasons behind their approval ratings for Zyrtec OTC, one pharmacist said, “BeWhich top two allergy brands do pharmacists cause Zyrtec gives the patient another option berecommend? sides Claritin for Adult allergy and non-sedating antihistaantihistamine tablets mine.” Another responClaritin dent said, “Claritin is not Benadryl strong enough for many Adult allergy/Antihistamine/ people and Zyrtec has less Nasal decongestant tablets drowsiness than Benadryl Claritin-D or Chlor-Trimeton.” Sudafed Yet another R.Ph. ofChildren’s allergy liquids fered this sentiment, Claritin Children’s Allergy Relief “Claritin had such a Dimetapp Children’s Liquid strong response and has proven to be safe and effective over the counter. Zyrtec should have a similar side-effect profile as well.” When asked to rate the extent to which they agree that customers will need more counseling about Zyrtec OTC, 20% of respondents said they Impact of Zyrtec OTC Four out of 10 respondents revealed that their No. 1 and No. 2 brand recommendations for adult allergy and antihistamine tablets will change with the introduction of Zyrtec OTC. Among these respondents, 62% will make Zyrtec OTC their No. 1 brand recommendation. Thirty-one percent said they expect to make it their No. 2 brand recommendation. Three out of 10 respondents stated that their leading brand recommendations for adult allergy/antihistamine/nasal decongestant tablets will change in the wake of the introduction of Zyrtec OTC. Among these respondents, 67% will make Zyrtec OTC their highest brand recommendation and 29% will make it their second highest brand recommendation. DT http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.drugtopics.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.