SUMMARY
Purpose:
To evaluate the selling of eye drops without prescription to a patient with red eye, in drugswres with delivery system.
Methods:
One hundred drugstores with de livery system were randomly selected, in Recife - Brazil. By telephone contact, a patient who complain!d of unilateral ocular foreign body sensation, lacrimal discharge, and red eye of 24-hour duration, asked the em.ployee to recommend a treatment. After that, the employee's status was asked whether he was a clerk or a pharmacist.
Results:
In all of the drugstores the telephone contact was made with a clerk. In 91% of the cases the client was advised to buy a drug without prescription. Drops for symptomatic relief was the most common advice, offered in 45%c of the drugstores.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that selling eye drops without prescription In drugstores with delivery system is common in Recife, PE.
Keywords:
Drug abuse; Eye diseases; Ocular infection; Self-treatment