Johnson Gina, Helman Cecil
Stopsley Group Practice, Wigmore Lane Health Centre, Luton LU2 8BG, UK.
Br J Gen Pract. 2004 Feb;54(499):98-102.
Over 500 million is spent in the United Kingdom every year on over-the-counter medicines for coughs and colds. Evidence for their pharmacological efficacy is lacking.
To examine lay beliefs about over-the-counter medicines for coughs and colds. To explore whether the distinction between symptom relief and cure has the same relevance to lay people as it does to medical professionals.
Small pilot study using qualitative techniques.
Variety sample of 11 patients attending the National Health Service walk-in centre, Birmingham, England.
In-depth semi-structured interviews, including pile-sorting and fictional case histories, were used to explore participants' beliefs about the effects of over-the-counter medicines on coughs and colds.
Eight of the 11 participants believed that at least one over the-counter cough medicine (most frequently Benylin for Chesty Coughs) could shorten, or "cure", an illness. Five participants thought that the majority of the medicines that they recognised would speed recovery rather than just relieve symptoms.
There is a common confusion in the lay person's mind between the ability of a medicine to relieve symptoms, and its ability to cure a disease or to hasten recovery. This misunderstanding may affect the demand for primary care consultations.
在英国，每年花费超过5亿英镑用于购买治疗咳嗽和感冒的非处方药。但其药理疗效缺乏证据。
研究人们对治疗咳嗽和感冒的非处方药的看法。探讨症状缓解和治愈之间的区别对普通民众是否与对医学专业人员一样具有相同的相关性。
采用定性技术的小型试点研究。
英国伯明翰国家医疗服务体系的即看即诊中心的11名患者组成的多样化样本。
采用深入的半结构化访谈，包括分类排序和虚构病史，以探究参与者对非处方药治疗咳嗽和感冒效果的看法。
11名参与者中有8人认为至少有一种非处方止咳药（最常见的是针对胸咳的Benylin）可以缩短病程或“治愈”疾病。5名参与者认为他们认识的大多数药物会加速康复而不仅仅是缓解症状。
普通民众普遍混淆了药物缓解症状的能力与其治愈疾病或加速康复的能力。这种误解可能会影响对初级保健咨询的需求。
