| Abstract: | In order to investigate the potential value of a drug monitoring system based on consumer reports we asked community pharmacists to distribute previously validated event report forms to users of two popular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), piroxicam and diclofenac, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Although response rates were low, comparisons of replies from NSAID users and drug-free subjects in the community identified a range of established symptomatic reactions from NSAIDs affecting the gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system and lower urinary tract. In comparison, analysis of adverse reaction reports from health professionals revealed a tendency to report more severe but rarer reactions affecting the upper gastrointestinal tract, liver, skin and haematological system. It is likely that a system based on consumer reports could augment current sources of information on adverse drug effects by revealing reactions which are important to consumers and yet often evade detection during pre-marketing clinical trials. Such a system might also have a capacity to generate very early signals of previously unsuspected symptomatic reactions with new drugs. |
