David C M Kong

Objectives Incorrect labelling of a penicillin allergy can lead to unnecessary use of broad-spectrum, less effective, more harmful, or more costly antibiotics. Community pharmacists are well positioned to educate the public on penicillin allergies, prevent incorrect labelling persisting, and optimize prescribing of antibiotics. This study investigated community pharmacists’ capacity to recognize an opportunity to directly de-label a no-risk penicillin allergy. Methods A sequential explanatory mixed methods design using mystery shopping (quantitative) and postvisit reflections (qualitative). Mystery shoppers simulated a case of a previously dispensed prescription (involving nonimmune mediated intolerance ‘thrush’ as the reported allergy) that provided the opportunity for pharmacists to educate on incorrect penicillin allergy. The main outcomes were proportion of community pharmacists who ascertained the nature of the penicillin reaction, provided education on incorrect penicillin allergy labels and its consequences. Knowledge and practices regarding penicillin allergy were collected. Key findings Across two major states in Australia, 265 community pharmacists participated. Only 44.5% (118/265) of pharmacists asked about the nature of the reaction; of those, 91.52% (108/118) indicated that ‘thrush’ is not an allergic reaction. No pharmacists took the opportunity to educate on how an incorrect allergy label can impact antibiotic prescribing. Postvisit reflection data revealed five probable explanations for the observations viz. outdated knowledge, lack of knowledge, prioritizing management of adverse drug reaction (thrush), variations in duty of care and assumption of true allergy without an assessment. Conclusion Our findings underscore a concerning knowledge and practice gap among community pharmacists regarding penicillin allergy assessment which warrants more support and education in the community pharmacy sector.