title: Pharmacists as nonprescription drug advisors.
abstract: This field study tested the ability of pharmacists to counsel patients with diabetes mellitus on the contraindicated use of a decongestant. The study was modeled after a 1969 study conducted by Knapp et al. Our simulation used a patient with diabetes who questioned pharmacists initially about proper insulin storage and then asked about the use of Contac (phenylpropanolamine) capsules, which carry a prominent label warning against use by diabetic patients. A research assistant, posing as the patient, interviewed pharmacists at 36 community pharmacies in a midwestern metropolitan area. Eleven of the pharmacists (30.5%) failed to warn the patient about the contraindication, compared with 83% in the earlier study.
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska, Omaha.
authors.forename: O E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Sierralta
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000075202:Contraindications; D003376:Counseling; D017007:Duty to Warn; D006801:Humans; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000592:standards*; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs