[Promoting responsible self-medication in the context of Parkinson's disease: Development of a practical guide for drug-drug interactions and assessment by patients and community pharmacy professionals]

Abstract

Context: Parkinson disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. Symptomatic treatment is based on dopaminergic medications. In case of self-medication practices, there may be drug-drug interactions between over-the-counter medication and dopaminergic medications. Thus, the aim of our work was to develop a practical guide summarizing drug-drug interactions and assess it by patients and community pharmacy professionals.

Methods: We performed a systematic analysis of drug-drug interactions between OTC medications available in France and antiparkinsonians (ATC Class N04) using Theriaque® and Drugs® databases, and summarized the results in a practical guide. We assessed patients' satisfaction by a questionnaire administered to hospitalized patients in a French expert center for Parkinson's disease. We estimated the impact of the guide on community pharmacy professionals through a survey online, by satisfaction, knowledge acquisition and estimated awareness in professional context.

Results: We identified 16 OTC medication, related to seven symptoms, interacting with antiparkinsonians. We obtained 67 responses from patients, expressing high satisfaction. We obtained 101 responses from professionals, reporting high satisfaction, knowledge acquisition and increased awareness in professional context.

Conclusion: Our results highlight the relevance of the guide and suggest that we may increase its dissemination to patients and community pharmacies.

Keywords: Automédication; Drug-drug interaction; Interaction médicamenteuse; Maladie de Parkinson; Parkinson's disease; Self-medication.