Description

This study is an experimental investigation with a baseline reference period, involving parallel groups of patients who approach a drugstore or drugstore/pharmacy to purchase over-the-counter medication for the treatment of a possible minor ailment. Drugstores or drugstores/pharmacies will be selected using cluster sampling, and patients will be randomly allocated to one of the study groups (intervention or control). The intervention group will receive care in line with the consensus pharmaceutical indication protocols and will undergo follow-up on days 3, 5, 7, and 10 post-care; the control group will continue with the standard care procedure. The aim of this study is to assess whether the implementation of consensus pharmaceutical indication protocols can shorten the resolution time of minor ailments and reduce the frequency of referrals to physicians. Secondary outcomes include: 1) profiling the population that visits a drugstore or drugstore/pharmacy to purchase an over-the-counter medication for a minor ailment, 2) identifying and classifying the minor ailment, 3) determining the necessity for over-the-counter medication to address the minor ailment, and 4) improvement, time to improvement, and frequency and causes of medical referral among this population.