[Pharmaceutical interventions in the new medicine service].

Abstract

Background: Community pharmacy has been promoted internationally for the management of minor ailments with positive results for patients and health care systems. This study evaluates the clinical impact and implementation of a minor ailment service in community pharmacies' daily practice.

Methods: A pragmatic study with a hybrid effectiveness-implementation design was conducted throughout Spain between 2020-2023. Patients who visited community pharmacies to consult or request a medicine for a minor ailment were included. The intervention consisted of a protocol for the minor ailment service and specific protocols for each ailment agreed with general medical practitioners through the SEFAC eXPERT® IT platform and after community pharmacists' training. Patients were followed up 10 days after the consultation.

Results: A total of 430 pharmacies registered 20,987 consultations. 85.2% (n=17,885) were consultations about minor ailments and 14.8% (n=3,102) were requests for specific medications. Minor ailments related to pain (18.7%, n=3,935) were the most frequently consulted. Pharmacists recommended pharmacological treatment to 81.3% (n=17,063) patients and referred 8.0% (n=1,682) patients to a general medical practitioner. 72.4% (n=15,192) of patients responded to follow-up with a symptom resolution of 9.0/10.0, a change in quality of life of +9.0 (0-100 scale) and a satisfaction with the service of 9.6/10.

Conclusions: SIF proved to be both operational and effective, yielding beneficial health outcomes. Its implementation enabled the evaluation of a substantial number of consultations and highlighted the need to encourage the routine documentation of services in community pharmacy practice.