PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania—Fully 18% of NSAID users do not report using the nonprescription drugs when asked about current medications, and 8% of those patients use NSAIDs daily, researchers reported at the 2007 American College of Gastroenterology meeting.¹

David A. Johnson, MD, at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, reported results of a survey of patients who had already completed a preliminary office intake assessment questionnaire that included questions about "current medications." The initial questionnaire, administered by nursing staff, included 100 consecutive patients in a private gastrointestinal (GI) practice seen by Dr. Johnson and his coauthor Raj T. Majithia, MD.

"After patients listed their current medications, they were given a survey and asked to acknowledge any use of 30 nonprescription formulations that contained NSAIDs," Dr. Johnson said.

The results showed that

• 18% of patients reported use of an NSAID that had not been reported to nursing staff
• 8% of those patients reported daily use
• 15% reported weekly use
• 76% reported use within the past month

When asked why they had not reported their NSAID use to the nurse, 14% said they had not been asked about the specific medication, 22% did not think the drugs were important enough to list, and 30% said their doctor had not prescribed the medication to them.

"Based on the data, it is clear that this underreporting can have a detrimental effect on procedure-related as well as long-term patient care. Future studies would be needed to examine the incidence of side effects due to underreporting of NSAIDs," Dr. Johnson noted.

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