INTRODUCTION
The common cold is an acute, self-limiting infection of the upper respiratory tract caused by viruses1 and is one of the most frequent reasons to see a doctor.2 The common cold itself is not a serious condition, but it imposes enormous costs on society in terms of visits to physicians and other health-care providers; expenditure on prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications; and absence from work, school, or daycare.3,4
Drug therapies for the common cold are normally targeted at relieving symptoms5 such as nasal congestion, rhinorrhoea, sneezing, and cough.6 To temporarily relieve these symptoms, decongestants, antihistamines, expectorants, and antitussives are generally administered.1-3,5,7 These drugs are known to have a low incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events with temporary use, and the cold in itself does not cause any GI symptoms.8-14 Therefore, the prescription of GI drugs to patients with the common cold is not justifiable where there are no accompanying or underlying GI disorders. Prescribing unnecessary GI drugs could place further burdens on health care finances without additional therapeutic benefits.15 Concerns about prescribing habits and inappropriate use of GI medications for patients with colds have been expressed in several studies.15-17
Although there are many studies on inappropriate antibiotic use in patients with colds,18-22 few have investigated the unnecessary use of GI drugs and the influencing factors. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the national prevalence of including unnecessary GI drugs in prescriptions for patients with the common cold in ambulatory settings and to investigate the influencing factors associated with this practice in Korea.