Minor ailment service for dry eye syndromes: I-VALOR programme

Background: Minor ailment service offered in community pharmacist is a key element in patient care. Thought in Spain the service is not properly documented.

Aims: The main objective was to evaluate community pharmacists’ interventions through an agreed minor ailment service for dry eye syndromes (DES).

Method: Descriptive study undertaken alongside I-VALOR programme (January-June 2015). Participants were pharmacists from SEFAC who voluntarily decided to do, and patients were those who consulted about DES in community pharmacy. 

Pharmacists used the Pharmaceutical Care Forum guideline for the Minor Ailment Service and an agreed consensus between pharmaceutical and medical societies. A patient’s form and a referral’s form were designed.

Results: There were 6,350 patients involved. 62.7% consultations were made by women (24.3% of 46-65 years old). No referral criteria were detected in 60% of patients. The pharmacist detected 3,887 referral criteria in 2,537 patients. Pharmacists decided not to refer 15.4% of those patients. 87.3% of the patients referred accepted the referral. Treatments were dispensed in 80% of patients: 3,157 pharmacological treatment (89.2% a single medication) and 2,403 non-pharmacological treatment (medical device, food supplement or eye cleaning product). 35% received hygienic-dietary advice and pharmaceutical advice. Twenty-five adverse drug reactions were detected (0.4%). 70.5% of all consultations made were managed with no referral to a general practitioner (GP).

Conclusions: I-VALOR programme allowed to evaluate an agreed intervention for DES in community pharmacy through the record of MAS to demonstrate CP contribution to manage minor ailments.