An interventional study of Care monitoring by the pharmacist's telephone call in Self-medication for Pain and Limits on Advice From Community Pharmacists and Referral to a Primary Care Practitioner, sponsored by University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-09.
Sponsored by University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
Self-medication is an increasingly common practice that carries risks. When a patient requests self-medication, the community pharmacist intervenes in the identification, prevention and resolution of medication-related problems. Previous work led to the validation of a reporting grid for pharmaceutical interventions and to the creation of a database of several thousand pharmaceutical interventions in self-medication. Thirty per cent of these are associated with a complaint of pain.
Recording these interventions and following up on their outcomes, particularly when the community pharmacist is at the limit of their advisory role and referral to another healthcare professional is required, would help promote coordinated practice among primary care professionals and could even inform public health policy. The AUTOMED'IP-DOL study will test the introduction of a liaison form and a brief pharmaceutical follow-up interview for pharmaceutical interventions arising from a spontaneous request in a context of pain and leading to the patient being referred to a consultation with a healthcare professional. The aim is to compare the value of such a practice with usual care in the pharmacy, by assessing patients' pain levels, quality of life and satisfaction.
Self-medication is the use of a medicinal product by a person on their own initiative, to treat simple, previously experienced symptoms or minor illnesses. It is a widespread practice and is not without risk, as previous studies have shown. The French national health insurance website, Ameli, therefore stresses the importance of asking one's pharmacist for advice and reading the patient information leaflet carefully.
When a patient makes a spontaneous request for a medicine, the pharmacist's role is to identify potential dangers (risk of overdose, drug interactions, etc.) and to propose a solution, such as adjusting the dosage, suggesting an alternative medicine, or referring the patient for a consultation. These recommendations, made to ensure patient safety, are known as "pharmaceutical interventions".
Recording and following up on pharmaceutical interventions, particularly when the community pharmacist reaches the limit of what they can advise and decides to refer the patient to another healthcare professional, would help ensure continuity of patient care.
This study will test the benefits of a liaison form and a follow-up telephone interview with the pharmacist for patients who come to the pharmacy seeking pain relief and whom the pharmacist chooses to refer to a healthcare professional, specifically a general practitioner, a midwife or a dentist. The aim is to compare the value of such a practice with usual care in the pharmacy, by assessing patients' pain levels, quality of life and satisfaction.
2,450 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain; 945 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 376 is above the median of 70 across 2,101 interventional studies indexed under Pain.
Browse Pain studies →University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand is the lead sponsor of 854 studies on the registry; 180 are open to participants now.
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Pregnant and breastfeeding women will be included in the study in accordance with the available literature
Exclusion Criteria:
A patient for whom a pharmaceutical intervention is initiated following:
Three days after carrying out a pharmaceutical intervention prompted by the patient's request for self-medication for pain - during which the patient was advised to consult a healthcare professional and was given a referral form - the community pharmacist conducts a follow-up by telephone to optimise the patient's care and assess the urgency of the situation.
Other: Care monitoring by the pharmacist's telephone call
Referral to a healthcare professional following a pharmaceutical intervention after the patient had self-medicated for pain, without any follow-up by the pharmacist.
The pharmacist completes a referral form for the healthcare professional and gives it to the patient. Three days later, he calls the patient to follow up and optimise the patient's care and assess the urgency of the situation.
Change in pain levels between enrollment and five days later, measured on a numerical scale ranging from 0 to 10.
Zero is equivalent to no pain and 10 indicates the worst possible pain.
Time frame: From enrollment to five days later.
Change in quality of life between enrolment and five days later (expressed as a percentage), measured using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire
Using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire
Time frame: From enrollment to five days later
Waiting time for an appointment with a healthcare professional
In days
Time frame: Between enrollment to five days later
Patient satisfaction, as measured by perceptions of the quality of overall care and satisfaction with the pathway through the care process
5-point Likert scales
Time frame: Assessed on the 5th day
No study locations are listed for this record.
Start is estimated for Nov 2026; primary completion for Dec 2027, 13 months later.
Of 1,253 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Pain, half reached primary completion within 11 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 29. This study's planned 13 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 1,276 studies reached it within 11 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 30.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Feb 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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