Self medication with St. Johnʹs wort in depressive disorders: An observational study in community pharmacies

Background sive disorders are frequent. They are frequently unrecognised or sufferers use self help or self medication, e.g. with St. Johnʹs wort (SJW), instead of seeking professional help. The purpose of this study is to examine patients who buy SJW for the treatment of depression. s rmacies from all over Germany customers who bought SJW and the pharmacists were asked to fill in a questionnaire on the cause for buying SJW, their health status and the type of counselling they received. s dividuals were included, 293 purchased SJW as an OTC preparation, 230 had a prescription (65 missing answers). The majority in both groups were women (78.8% in OTC group, 74.3% in prescription group. Self medication patients were significantly younger. Subjects with a prescription took SJW longer (26.99 ± 26.84 vs. 15.25 ± 20.84 months). Both groups did not differ in self rated symptoms of depression (severity of depression, anxiety, endurance). tions ndardized interviews were used to establish the diagnosis of depression. sions ts who buy SJW for self medication report pronounced and persistent depressive symptoms. As this is a large group of patients they should get more attention in research. Pharmacists are the only professionals who come in contact with these patients and should therefore be considered as an important group of carers.