Recent Changes in Public Attitude Toward Drugs and Health Foods as Seen through the Eyes of Drug Stores' Pharmacists

Abstract

In order to better understand changing public attitudes toward drugs and use of health foods, 69 pharmacists running drugstores in 2 Tokyo areas were interviewed, and the following results were obtained: 1. In recent years, they found pepole are increasing knowledgeable about drug usage and desire details information. 2. These three mistaken or rather ineffective drug using patterns were found to be common: a) to fear side-effects unnecessarily, b) to expect too much of the medicine's effectiveness, c) to rely on OTC drugs without consulting a doctor even in serious cases. 3. Recently the demand for chinese herbal medicines continues to be increasing, while comparatively the demand for health foods and dietary products has leveled off. 4. Both the users of health foods and the consumers of dietary products tend to make more mistakes in drug usage than do the users of Chinese medicines. 5. As to the current high interest in health, the interviewees pointed out two types of backgrounds among their consummers; an increasing awareness of unhealthy influences and a general increasing interest in health related issues.