Rise in the consumption of healthy food, immunity boosters, and a regular fitness routine sees a sharp decrease in episodes of common cold among Indians, reveals a Pan-India study by Velocity Healthcare

D’cold Total, leads the brand race in terms of awareness & usage for the management of common cold issues, followed by Otrivin and Benadryl 

Bengaluru, October 2021: Velocity Healthcare, a healthcare full-service insights company catering to the healthcare insights needs of marketers, manufacturers & governments, released the research study to understand the difference (Pre-Covid vs. Covid/Current) in management practices and typical patient pathways for managing the common cold issue. The study covered 14 Indian cities with a sample of 300+ respondents aged 20+ years who suffered from common cold issues in the last 45 days and took allopathic medications only (oral tablets/capsules or syrup or nasal spray) to manage the common cold issues.

The study depicts insightful data about practices and typical patient pathways such as causes/triggers, frequency of occurrence, type of allopathic medications consumed by Indians – for managing cold common/nasal congestion issues.

The study reveals that 66% of respondents consider taking allopathic medications as their first resort of treatment. Oral Tablets/Capsules is the most common type of medication consumed, followed by oral syrup and nasal spray.

The report further assessed that in ~60% of cases, the frequency of occurrence of common cold ranges from once a month to once in 3 months; while for the other ~40%, it is situation-specific – where the change in lifestyle-related habits causes the condition. A sizeable chunk, 73%, consult a doctor to manage their common cold issue, either when the first resort of treatment failed (42%) or immediately after getting it (36%).

Jasal Shah, Managing Director & CEO, Velocity Healthcare, states, “This a reality check towards the nasal congestion & common cold issues when we compare the prevailing situation with the pre-covid times. The findings of this report highlight the divided pattern about change in the frequency of occurrence in common cold episodes.

It gives great insights for businesses in the relevant pharma sector to read these patterns carefully and address the challenges of people. In addition, this report has the patient journey map, which depicts their (respondents) behavior at various stages of fighting common cold issues.

We see the upside of covid in terms of people adopting to better food habits and healthy lifestyle, but this entire change needs to be understood by healthcare brands closely to fill in the need gap if any.” 

Highlights of the study

Change in suffering and management of common cold issue:

• Our findings highlight a divided pattern amongst respondents about change in their frequency of occurrence in episodes of the common cold.

– It was observed that almost ~50% witnessed a reduction in their episodes of a common cold which is mainly attributed to consumption of healthy food (69%), immunity boosters (67%), and regular fitness routine (63%)

– Whereas amongst the remaining respondents, ~40% mentioned that pandemic has had no impact on their episodes of the common cold

• It’s interesting to know that majority even confessed that their management measures of the common cold issue have changed in the current times vs. the pre covid times mainly due to adoption of preventive measures (41%), adopting a healthy lifestyle/avoiding food that may cause common cold (39%)
• Immediate resort to allopathic medication (~30%) and doctor consultation (~30%) has also increased during pandemic vs. before.

Patient journey map for the common cold issue:

• The most common cause of the common cold issue is climate change (74%), followed by environmental pollutants (59%) and consumption of cold beverages (46%)
• In ~60% of cases, the frequency of occurrence of common cold ranges from once a month to once in a quarter, while of the other ~40%, it is situation-specific- where a change in lifestyle-related habits may cause it
• It is worthwhile to note that majority (~66%) consider allopathic medication as their first resort of treatment for the common cold issues.
• The remaining respondents try different measures, amongst which various home remedies are tried by 100% of respondents during their 1^st resort of treatment before moving to allopathic medication. Apart from home remedies, Vicks vapoRub/balm, inhalers are also commonly used.
• Amongst allopathic medication, oral tablets/capsules (75%) is the most used type of allopathic medication followed by oral syrup (51%) and nasal spray (46%)
• Doctor consultation is ever availed by the majority of respondents (73%) either when their first resort measures fail (42%) or immediately after getting the symptoms (36%).

About Velocity Healthcare

Velocity Healthcare is a tech-savvy healthcare insights provider that aims to provide reliable & actionable insights backed by quality data from global proprietary healthcare panels in 19+ countries with 150+ medical specialties. The need for healthcare insights has never been so realized ever before for marketers, manufacturers & governments. In the pursuit to help healthcare & allied services, Velocity Healthcare aims to provide reliable & actionable insights backed by quality data from proprietary healthcare panels & technology to add efficiency & reduce redundancies. In a nutshell, we’re the healthcare full-service research agency for the end-to-end execution of primary market research.