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Pharmacists in a community pharmacy may recommend an over-the-counter (OTC) drug to patients with headache. However, it is not clear how pharmacists should distinguish the symptoms of patients and facilitate appropriate self-medication. Here, we investigated the role of pharmacists in a community pharmacy in recommending OTC drugs for self-medication by patients with headache and elucidated their future needs using a questionnaire intended for doctors and pharmacists. More than half of the pharmacists surveyed did not have any experience with recommending OTC drugs for patients with headache. To distinguish between patients for whom pharmacists should "recommend OTC drugs" and patients who should be encouraged "to consult a hospital or clinic," doctors thought that pharmacists should use an "assistance tool to diagnosis headache, such as a screener for migraine" and "guidelines for chronic headache." However, few pharmacists used these tools. About 68% of doctors indicated that it would be "meaningful" for pharmacists to distinguish patients with headache. Moreover, both doctors and pharmacists thought that pharmacists should provide patients not only with "instruction on the use of drugs" but also suggest "when to consult a hospital or clinic." However, 32% of doctors indicated that it is "meaningless" for pharmacists to attempt to distinguish patients with headache and expressed concern about the increase of patients who overuse headache medication. These findings provide useful information to guide pharmacists in community pharmacy when recommending OTC drugs for self-medication by patients with headache.

The Role of Pharmacists in a Community Pharmacy for Self-Medication of Patients with Headache