Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey
Background The aim of this work is to find the factors related to over-the-counter drug (OTC) consumption in Europe considering the differences in OTC market regulation.Methods A sample obtained from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) of 2019 is used to estimate a logistic regression. This...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2455068 |
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| author | Aida Isabel Tavares |
| author_facet | Aida Isabel Tavares |
| author_sort | Aida Isabel Tavares |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background The aim of this work is to find the factors related to over-the-counter drug (OTC) consumption in Europe considering the differences in OTC market regulation.Methods A sample obtained from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) of 2019 is used to estimate a logistic regression. This sample includes 286,413 people from 26 countries. The outcome variable is derived from the question about the use of non-prescribed drugs. The independent variables include a set of predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Finally, countries with similar OTC retail market regulations are considered to control for heterogeneity in this regard.Results The main findings show that OTC market deregulation is not strictly related to the share of OTC consumption. Despite some heterogeneity based on the type of OTC retail market regulation, there is a set of common drivers for its use by people across countries, such as age, gender, education, suffering from chronic disease or pain and being on a waiting list for medical treatment. When considering individual country and cluster of countries controls, there are some relevant results such as the role played by accessibility to pharmacies and OTC retailers; the positive correlation between OTC drugs and prescribed drug consumption, and the positive correlation between unmet health care needs due to financial household constraints and OTC drugs use.Conclusions There is no clear relationship between OTC drug use and OTC retail market regulation. There are several predisposing, enabling, and need factors that promote the use of OTC drugs. The relevant policies relate to the inequal access to OTC drugs across countries that may result from different market regulations and different consumption drivers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-22636827bad3410d8d25c0ad40b55345 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2052-3211 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-22636827bad3410d8d25c0ad40b553452025-02-03T13:58:29ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice2052-32112025-12-0118110.1080/20523211.2025.2455068Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview SurveyAida Isabel Tavares0CEISUC – Centre for Health Studies and Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, PortugalBackground The aim of this work is to find the factors related to over-the-counter drug (OTC) consumption in Europe considering the differences in OTC market regulation.Methods A sample obtained from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) of 2019 is used to estimate a logistic regression. This sample includes 286,413 people from 26 countries. The outcome variable is derived from the question about the use of non-prescribed drugs. The independent variables include a set of predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Finally, countries with similar OTC retail market regulations are considered to control for heterogeneity in this regard.Results The main findings show that OTC market deregulation is not strictly related to the share of OTC consumption. Despite some heterogeneity based on the type of OTC retail market regulation, there is a set of common drivers for its use by people across countries, such as age, gender, education, suffering from chronic disease or pain and being on a waiting list for medical treatment. When considering individual country and cluster of countries controls, there are some relevant results such as the role played by accessibility to pharmacies and OTC retailers; the positive correlation between OTC drugs and prescribed drug consumption, and the positive correlation between unmet health care needs due to financial household constraints and OTC drugs use.Conclusions There is no clear relationship between OTC drug use and OTC retail market regulation. There are several predisposing, enabling, and need factors that promote the use of OTC drugs. The relevant policies relate to the inequal access to OTC drugs across countries that may result from different market regulations and different consumption drivers.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2455068OTC drugsconsumptiondriversmarket deregulationEurope |
| spellingShingle | Aida Isabel Tavares Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice OTC drugs consumption drivers market deregulation Europe |
| title | Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey |
| title_full | Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey |
| title_fullStr | Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey |
| title_short | Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey |
| title_sort | over the counter drug consumption and related factors evidence from the european health interview survey |
| topic | OTC drugs consumption drivers market deregulation Europe |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2455068 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aidaisabeltavares overthecounterdrugconsumptionandrelatedfactorsevidencefromtheeuropeanhealthinterviewsurvey |