Purpose: To assess pharmacist and general practitioner (GP) advice and behaviors, as related to and reported by patients and parents of patients using topical corticosteroids (TCS) on a long-term basis. Materials and methods: Multicenter cross-sectional survey of patients (aged 18+) and parents of pediatric patients (aged= 1 month) TCS use, assessing: TCS treatment adherence and reasons for non-adherence; beliefs regarding TCS use and safety; messages regarding TCS received from community pharmacists, GPs, family/friends and the Internet; and experiences of GP and pharmacist counseling regarding TCS use. Results: A total of 123 patients and 78 parents completed the survey (n=201). 76.6% of respondents reported consistently ("Often" or "Always") receiving one or more message(s) regarding TCS "risk" from a GP and/or pharmacist (n=192). Respondents reported being told to "try natural or complementary and alternative therapies before resorting to the use of TCS" significantly more often by pharmacists than by GPs (p=0.039). Conclusions: High rates of consistently delivered messages about TCS "risk" from GPs and pharmacists affect patient/parent understanding about TCS safety and may lead to treatment non-adherence. This indicates a need for reeducation of these groups on the safety of TCS use.