Table 1
Spearman's correlations among factors influencing (a) the choice of pharmacy and (b) the purchase of OTC medicine.
| (a) Pharmacy criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| The pharmacy's location (1) | - | |||||||
| The pharmacy staff (2) | 0.29** | - | ||||||
| The product range (3) | 0.26** | 0.25** | - | |||||
| The additional services (4) | 0.15** | 0.25** | 0.40** | - | ||||
| The membership programme (5) | 0.04ns | 0.21** | 0.22** | 0.46** | - | |||
| Anonymity/confidentiality (6) | 0.11ns | 0.35** | 0.30** | 0.29** | 0.22** | - | ||
| The store's atmosphere (7) | 0.22** | 0.40** | 0.39** | 0.35** | 0.21** | 0.41** | - | |
| The opening hours (8) | 0.30** | 0.19** | 0.21** | 0.21** | 0.18** | 0.22** | 0.27** | - |
| (b) OTC product criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| The drug's country of origin (1) | - | |||||||
| The manufacturing company (2) | 0.77** | - | ||||||
| Packaging (3) | 0.36** | 0.38** | - | |||||
| Experience of a previous use (4) | 0.26** | 0.28** | 0.13* | - | ||||
| The product's advertisement (5) | 0.01ns | 0.06ns | 0.29** | 0.11ns | - | |||
| The pharmacist's opinion (6) | 0.05ns | 0.06ns | 0.02ns | 0.18** | 0.13* | - | ||
| Family's/friends’ opinion (7) | 0.01ns | 0.06ns | 0.17** | 0.10ns | 0.38** | 0.21** | - | |
| The product's price (8) | 0.07ns | 0.09ns | 0.19** | 0.05ns | 0.00ns | 0.30** | 0.15** | - |
Table 2
(a) Tendency to make purchases in a single pharmacy across educational level and occupation; (b) relationship with the pharmacy staff across occupation; (c) purchase patterns of over-the-counter medicine across educational level; (d) unscheduled purchases of over-the-counter medicine across gender and occupation.
| (a) ‘I tend to make my purchases in a single pharmacy’ | ||||
| Educational level | Yes, always | Yes, most of the time | No, I make my purchases in various pharmacies | Total |
| Primary school | 11 (73.3%) | 3 (20.0%) | 1 (6.7%) | 15 (100.0%) |
| Gymnasium (lower secondary) | 21 (46.7%) | 19 (42.2%) | 5 (11.1%) | 45 (100.0%) |
| Lyceum (upper secondary) | 32 (29.1%) | 50 (45.5%) | 28 (25.5%) | 110 (100.0%) |
| University | 24 (26.7%) | 41 (45.6%) | 25 (27.8%) | 90 (100.0%) |
| Post-graduate | 3 (12.0%) | 10 (56.0%) | 8 (32.0%) | 25 (100.0%) |
| Doctorate | 3 (25.0%) | 6 (50.0%) | 3 (25.0%) | 12 (100.0%) |
| Total | 94 (31.6%) | 133 (44.8%) | 70 (23.6%) | 297 (100.0%) |
| Occupation | Yes, always | Yes, most of the time | No, I make my purchases in various pharmacies | Total |
| Student | 1 (6.7%) | 8 (53.3%) | 6 (40.0%) | 15 (100.0%) |
| Unemployed | 5 (14.7%) | 14 (41.2%) | 15 (44.1%) | 34 (100.0%) |
| Homemaker | 14 (34.1%) | 18 (43.9%) | 9 (22.0%) | 41 (100.0%) |
| Part-time worker | 4 (20.0%) | 8 (40.0%) | 8 (40.0%) | 20 (100.0%) |
| Full-time worker | 16 (18.4%) | 46 (52.9%) | 25 (28.7%) | 87 (100.0%) |
| Self-employed | 3 (16.7%) | 10 (55.6%) | 5 (27.8%) | 18 (100.0%) |
| Retired | 52 (61.9%) | 30 (35.7%) | 2 (2.4%) | 84 (100.0%) |
| Total | 95 (31.8%) | 134 (44.8%) | 70 (23.4%) | 299 (100.0%) |
| (b) ‘Regarding my relationship with the pharmacy staff’ | ||||
| Occupation | I want it to be familiar | I want it to be formal | I don’t want the staff to recognise me | Total |
| Student | 3 (20.0%) | 12 (80.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 15 (100.0%) |
| Unemployed | 17 (50.0%) | 14 (41.2%) | 3 (8.8%) | 34 (100.0%) |
| Homemaker | 28 (68.3%) | 11 (26.8%) | 2 (4.9%) | 41 (100.0%) |
| Part-time worker | 13 (65.0%) | 7 (35.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 20 (100.0%) |
| Full-time worker | 57 (65.5%) | 25 (28.7%) | 5 (5.7%) | 87 (100.0%) |
| Self-employed | 13 (72.2%) | 5 (27.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 18 (100.0%) |
| Retired | 75 (89.3%) | 7 (8.3%) | 2 (2.4%) | 84 (100.0%) |
| Total | 206 (68.9%) | 81 (27.1%) | 12 (4.0%) | 299 (100.0%) |
| (c) ‘When I purchase an over-the-counter drug, I usually’ | ||||
| Educational level | I know exactly what I need | I know approximately what I need | I don’t know what I need | Total |
| Primary school | 12 (80.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (20.0%) | 15 (100.0%) |
| Gymnasium (lower secondary) | 23 (51.1%) | 21 (46.7%) | 1 (2.2%) | 45 (100.0%) |
| Lyceum (upper secondary) | 57 (51.4%) | 49 (44.1%) | 5 (4.5%) | 111 (100.0%) |
| University | 42 (48.3%) | 43 (49.4%) | 2 (2.3%) | 87 (100.0%) |
| Post-graduate | 14 (56.0%) | 11 (44.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 25 (100.0%) |
| Doctorate | 7 (58.3%) | 5 (41.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 12 (100.0%) |
| Total | 155 (52.5%) | 129 (43.7%) | 11 (3.7%) | 295 (100.0%) |
| (d) ‘When I am in a pharmacy, I tend to make unscheduled purchases of over-the-counter drugs’ | ||||
| Gender | Yes, often | Yes, sometimes | No, never | Total |
| Female | 8 (4.4%) | 96 (52.5%) | 79 (43.2%) | 183 (100.0%) |
| Male | 8 (7.0%) | 43 (37.7%) | 63 (55.3%) | 114 (100.0%) |
| Total | 16 (5.4%) | 139 (46.8%) | 142 (47.8%) | 297 (100.0%) |
| Occupation | Yes, often | Yes, sometimes | No, never | Total |
| Student | 0 (0.0%) | 7 (46.7%) | 8 (53.3%) | 15 (100.0%) |
| Unemployed | 4 (12.1%) | 14 (42.4%) | 15 (45.5%) | 33 (100.0%) |
| Homemaker | 5 (11.9%) | 25 (59.5%) | 12 (28.6%) | 42 (100.0%) |
| Part-time worker | 1 (5.0%) | 12 (60.0%) | 7 (35.0%) | 20 (100.0%) |
| Full-time worker | 0 (0.0%) | 42 (48.8%) | 44 (51.2%) | 86 (100.0%) |
| Self-employed | 1 (5.6%) | 8 (44.4%) | 9 (50.0%) | 18 (100.0%) |
| Retired | 5 (6.0%) | 31 (37.3%) | 47 (56.6%) | 83 (100.0%) |
| Total | 16 (5.4%) | 139 (46.8%) | 142 (47.8%) | 297 (100.0%) |
Table 3
Importance of the (a) pharmacy staff in the choice of pharmacy across educational level and occupation, importance of the (b) product's advertisement and the (c) pharmacist's opinion in the choice of over-the-counter medicine across occupation.
| Variable | Educational level | n | Mean | SD |
| (a) Pharmacy staff | Primary school | 15 | 4.33 | 1.39 |
| Gymnasium (lower secondary) | 45 | 4.55 | 0.69 | |
| Lyceum (upper secondary) | 110 | 4.20 | 0.92 | |
| University | 90 | 3.95 | 1.06 | |
| Post-graduate | 25 | 4.16 | 0.80 | |
| Doctorate | 12 | 4.50 | 0.52 | |
| Total | 297 | 4.19 | 0.96 | |
| Occupation | ||||
| (a) Pharmacy staff | Student | 15 | 3.60 | 1.12 |
| Unemployed | 33 | 3.63 | 1.24 | |
| Homemaker | 42 | 4.33 | 0.75 | |
| Part-time worker | 20 | 3.90 | 0.91 | |
| Full-time worker | 87 | 4.18 | 0.99 | |
| Self-employed | 18 | 3.83 | 0.78 | |
| Retired | 84 | 4.63 | 0.67 | |
| Total | 299 | 4.20 | 0.96 | |
| Occupation | ||||
| (b) Product's advertisement | Student | 15 | 2.93 | 1.22 |
| Unemployed | 34 | 2.82 | 1.35 | |
| Homemaker | 42 | 2.92 | 1.31 | |
| Part-time worker | 20 | 3.05 | 1.23 | |
| Full-time worker | 87 | 3.28 | 1.04 | |
| Self-employed | 18 | 2.33 | 1.13 | |
| Retired | 84 | 2.84 | 1.19 | |
| Total | 300 | 2.97 | 1.20 | |
| (c) Pharmacist's opinion | Student | 15 | 3.93 | 0.59 |
| Unemployed | 34 | 4.05 | 0.98 | |
| Homemaker | 42 | 4.52 | 0.77 | |
| Part-time worker | 20 | 4.20 | 0.69 | |
| Full-time worker | 86 | 4.31 | 0.77 | |
| Self-employed | 18 | 4.00 | 0.76 | |
| Retired | 84 | 4.47 | 0.71 | |
| Total | 299 | 4.31 | 0.78 |
[i] SD: standard deviation
Table 4
Importance of the (a) product's country of origin, (b) manufacturing company and (c) the pharmacist's opinion in the choice of over-the-counter medicine across income level.
| Variables | Income | n | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Product's country of origin | Under 400 € | 86 | 3.39 | 1.22 |
| 400–800 € | 96 | 3.48 | 1.20 | |
| 801–1200 € | 77 | 3.93 | 1.13 | |
| 1201–1600 € | 24 | 3.91 | 0.88 | |
| 1601–2000 € | 9 | 3.55 | 1.13 | |
| Over 2000 € | 6 | 4.33 | 0.81 | |
| Total | 298 | 3.63 | 1.17 | |
| (b) Product's manufacturing company | Under 400 € | 86 | 3.29 | 1.28 |
| 400–800 € | 95 | 3.24 | 1.26 | |
| 801–1200 € | 77 | 3.87 | 1.03 | |
| 1201–1600 € | 24 | 3.87 | 0.89 | |
| 1601–2000 € | 9 | 3.88 | 1.16 | |
| Over 2000 € | 6 | 4.16 | 0.98 | |
| Total | 297 | 3.50 | 1.20 | |
| (c) Pharmacist's opinion | Under 400 € | 86 | 4.18 | 0.86 |
| 400–800 € | 96 | 4.44 | 0.73 | |
| 801–1200 € | 78 | 4.42 | 0.71 | |
| 1201–1600 € | 24 | 4.04 | 0.75 | |
| 1601–2000 € | 9 | 4.22 | 0.83 | |
| Over 2000 € | 6 | 3.83 | 0.98 | |
| Total | 299 | 4.31 | 0.78 |
[i] SD: standard deviation