Innovation update: minor ailments are anything but minor

Jeff Taylor was recently speaking with a patient who mentioned her 92-year-old mother was taking 325 mg of acetylsalicylic acid daily for sedation.

Jeff Taylor

“The alarm bells were ringing,” recalls Taylor. As any pharmacist will attest, such examples of the misuse of nonprescription drugs regularly emerge in daily practice. “When pharmacists stand out in front of the counter, it’s a whole different world than filling prescriptions. There are often therapeutic concerns under the rocks you turn over. Pharmacists are very much on the front line for a lot of this, and for referring people to physicians when necessary.”

Taylor, a Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, conducted research to better quantify the prevalence, symptom burden and health-related behaviors surrounding 31 minor ailments (or common conditions) in older adults. Funded by CFP’s Innovation Fund in 2024, the completed study was published in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health in December 2025.

The 356 participants were randomly selected from the University of Saskatchewan’s Citizens Research Panel, with an average age of 72.8 years.

The study found that older adults experienced an average of 6.2 symptoms over a two-week period. The most common symptoms or conditions were back pain, joint pain and insomnia. Many reported symptoms lasting several years or longer.

On a scale of one to seven, respondents reported a mean disruption score, or impact on daily life, of 3.4—a result that “seemed a tad low” compared to research conducted in other countries, notes Taylor. That finding likely reflects the fact that a high proportion of this study’s participants reported their health to be good (42%) or very good (33%).

The use of over-the-counter medicine was strongly evident for 16 symptoms (most often headaches, heartburn and dry eyes). On the other hand, doing nothing or watchful waiting was a prominent course of action for 13 symptoms (most often tinnitus, loneliness and erectile dysfunction).

When participants were asked if they sought help from a healthcare professional at any time, including beyond the two-week study period, the highest rates of consultation were for rash, joint pain and dry eyes. Pharmacists were consulted more often than physicians for cold and flu symptoms, notes Taylor.

“Despite their name, the cumulative impact of minor ailments is far from trivial. They represent the base of the symptom pyramid in terms of sheer frequency and account for many trips to primary care,” states the research paper.

“Conditions like hypertension and diabetes get a lot of attention, as they should, but we’ve got an underlying current of many symptoms that don’t get a whole lot of attention and even fall through the cracks,” adds Taylor. “But they’re still important.”