Free antibiotic and vaccination programmes in community pharmacies of Miami-Dade County, FL, USA

Some community pharmacies provide prescribed oral antibiotics for free to incentivize customers. This can influence prescribing practices and may increase inappropriate antibiotic use. Thus, pleas to incorporate education and/or vaccinations into these initiatives have been made by the CDC and IDSA. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of free antibiotic programmes (FAPs) and free vaccination programmes (FVPs) offered by community pharmacies within a major US county. Additionally, we evaluated the association between FAP location and proximate socioeconomic status.

A telephone survey was administered to all community pharmacies in operation and located in Miami-Dade County, FL, USA (n=668). Population characteristics at the five-digit ZIP code level were acquired from the 2010 US Census and American Communities Survey. An independent t-test, Kruskal-Wallis and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.

A total of 660 community pharmacies agreed to the telephone survey (response rate=98.8%). FAPs were present in 6.8% of pharmacies (n=45) and none incorporated an educational component targeted at patients or prescribers. Ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin were offered by all FAPs and 84.4% provided up to a 14 day supply (n=38). Thirty-four of 72 ZIP codes had an FAP and those with a programme had larger populations and higher incomes (P≤0.05). Family income≥$75,000 (P=0.0002) was an independent predictor of FAP availability. None of the surveyed pharmacies offered a FVP.

Frequently provided by chain pharmacies and located in areas of higher income, FAPs within Miami-Dade County offer broad-spectrum antibiotics for long durations without additional education to patients or prescribers.