A comparison of community pharmacists' views of over-the-counter omeprazole and simvastatin

PURPOSE: Simvastatin and omeprazole were re-classified to pharmacy status in Great Britain in summer 2004. The purpose of this study was to compare the views of community pharmacists on over-the-counter (OTC) omeprazole and simvastatin. METHODS: A pre-piloted questionnaire mailed to 2000 randomly selected community pharmacy premises, with open questions relating to pharmacists' views. Pharmacists' attitudes on aspects of supply were sought using Likert scales. Content analysis was performed on responses to the open question and Wilcoxon signed ranks test (z) used to compare responses to the attitudinal statements. RESULTS: One thousand one hundred and fifty-six questionnaires were returned (57.8%). Themes around omeprazole illustrated positive views compared to concerns relating to simvastatin. Whereas omeprazole was seen as a welcome addition, there were issues around the poor evidence base for simvastatin. Further simvastatin related concerns were in areas of cardiovascular risk assessment, adverse drug reactions and likelihood of patients not committing to therapy. For both agents, excessive cost was an issue. Nearly three-quarters of pharmacists agreed they were entirely confident about selling omeprazole (835, 73%), significantly more than simvastatin (691, 60%); (z = 9.243, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Two re-classified medicines have raised common and product-specific themes. Many themes relate to clinical governance such as evidence-based practice, risk management and continuing professional development (CPD). Views on the availability and circumstances surrounding the OTC supply differ in certain regards, for example, more believe that they should be involved in the sale of simvastatin personally than for sales of omeprazole.