37% took a second anti-inflammatory in the same week, unknowingly
In a one-week diary of 1,326 ibuprofen users, 37% also took a different non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and 11% went over the labelled daily limit.
What the study found
People doubled up on NSAIDs without recognising them as NSAIDs
In a one-week diary of 1,326 ibuprofen users, 37% also took a different non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID, during the same week, and 11% went over the labelled daily limit. Most did not recognise every product they were taking as an NSAID.
The caveat · Self-reported online, not checked
An online self-reported diary, so what people recorded may not be what they swallowed, and volunteers who sign up online are not a random sample. Going over the limit was worked out from the recorded times and doses, never checked against an independent record. The study counted behaviour and not harm, so it cannot say how many of those days caused anyone a problem. It ran in the United States, where pack sizes and single-pill doses differ from other markets.