Author(s)

Gillian Lisa Phillipson¹, John David Hull¹, Bolesław Samoliński²

¹Procter & Gamble, Greater London Innovation Centre, Surrey, UK.
²Department of the Prevention of Environmental Hazards and Allergology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

Real-world user satisfaction with a fixed dose combination over-the-counter cold remedy (Vicks Symptomed Complete Cytrynowy hot drink; VSCC) was evaluated in a prospective, non-comparative, observational study involving 176 pharmacies in Poland from February to April 2015. 1391 participants completed a questionnaire in the pharmacy and several paper questionnaires at home following use of the product at their own discretion. Participants returned their completed questionnaires to the pharmacy. 1356 participants were included in the intent-to-treat analysis. Participants highly valued the advice from their pharmacist (97%, P < 0.0001, important vs. not important) and thought the quality of that advice was good (93%, P < 0.0001, good/very good vs. very bad-fair). 96% of participants found VSCC to be effective in some way against their cold symptoms (P < 0.0001, effective vs. not effective) and 68% of them stated that it was better than any other cold therapy they had used before (P < 0.0001, better/best vs. same/worse). Adverse event reporting was very low.

Common Cold, Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, Observational, Pharmacy, Over-the-Counter, Fixed-Dose Combination, Common Cold Symptoms

Phillipson, G. , Hull, J. and Samoliński, B. (2017) Observational Study of a Multi-Active Ingredient Over-the-Counter Cold Remedy Following Active Pharmacist Recommendation. Open Journal of Respiratory Diseases, 7, 41-52. doi: 10.4236/ojrd.2017.71005.