Table 4 The opinion of community pharmacists on the best approach to decrease the adverse events of NSAIDs (n = 751)
Practice item | Frequency (%) |
|---|---|
In your opinion which of the following measures or approaches are best to use for minimising gastrointestinal side effects of NSAIDs? | |
Reducing the dose of NSAIDs | 113 (15.0%) |
Changing to a safer drug on the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., COX2 selective inhibitor) | 339 (45.0%) |
Offering a gastro-protective agent (e.g., antacid, proton pump inhibitors, histamine receptor blockers, misoprostol) | 154 (20.5%) |
Advising patients to take oral NSAIDs with food or with a full glass of water | 145 (19.3%) |
In your opinion which of the following measures or approaches are the best to use for minimising the renal side effects of NSAIDs? | |
Reducing the dose | 118 (15.7%) |
Changing to a safer drug on the kidney (e.g., acetaminophen) | 362 (48.1%) |
Advising patients not to use NSAIDs for more than 10 days to relief pain and not more than 3 days to relief fever | 219 (29.1%) |
Advising patients to take oral NSAIDs with food | 52 (6.9%) |
Which of the following is the least important teaching point on NSAID to counsel patients on? | |
NSAIDs are nonprescription pain relievers in Egypt | 307 (40.8%) |
Before using any medicine ask your doctor/pharmacist if it is safe to use it while using NSAIDs | 217 (28.8%) |
NSAIDs may not be good in people at risk for kidney disease | 154 (20.5%) |
Adding NSAIDs to some blood pressure medicines can increase the harm to the kidney | 73 (9.7%) |