>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Pharmacovigilance involves the management of sub-standard drugs, medication errors, ―off-licence‖ drugs, abuse and misuse, lack of efficacy, poisoning, adverse drug reactions (ADRs), drug interactions, expired stock destruction and drug-related mortality. Regulators and the pharmaceutical industry rely on healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, to report ADRs. The majority of pharmacists work in retail community pharmacies and they are often the first point of contact when ADRs are experienced, since self-medication, misuse of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, vitamins and traditional medicines, increase the probability of ADRs. In South Africa (SA) ADRs have been known to cause adult deaths and hospital admissions. In first-world communities, pharmacovigilance is more common among pharmacists, however in South Africa, ADR reporting compares poorly. Studies in the public sector have found that pharmacists lack pharmacovigilance knowledge and underreport ADRs. In comparison the pharmacovigilance knowledge and practice patterns among retail community pharmacists is poorly documented.

A profissão farmacêutica vive momento de busca de novas práticas baseadas na atenção farmacêutica. O objetivo deste estudo foi conhecer a prática profissional de farmacêuticos que atuavam em farmácias com ênfase em atividades relacionadas à prática da atenção farmacêutica. Material e métodos. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo tipo survey transversal; os dados foram coletados em entrevistas com farmacêuticos do município de Jundiaí/SP. Resultados. Entrevistou-se 93 farmacêuticos, sendo a maioria jovem (31,7 anos em média), do sexo feminino (62,4%), graduada em instituições privadas (90,1%) e não proprietária do estabelecimento (86,0%); desenvolviam na farmácia atividades administrativas, técnicas e de atenção ao usuário, em especial, orientações e dispensação de medicamentos; 67,7% acompanhavam o tratamento farmacoterapêutico dos usuários, mas sem registro de informações, e 77,8% já haviam detectado algum problema com a medicação. Muitos farmacêuticos (91,4%) consideravam necessário realizar um trabalho de maior proximidade com os usuários, porém apontaram como principais dificuldades a falta de: tempo, apoio dos proprietários, interesse dos usuários e conhecimento. A compreensão que 62,3% tinha sobre atenção farmacêutica estava relacionada à orientação e ao atendimento dispensados. Conclusões. A prática da atenção farmacêutica, como preconizada na literatura, não foi observada entre os entrevistados. Estudos futuros para conhecer como os farmacêuticos realizam suas atividades são importantes ao aprimoramento dos serviços farmacêuticos e melhorar a compreensão sobre atenção farmacêutica poderá ajudar na sua implementação. / The pharmaceutical profession is searching for new practices based on pharmaceutical care. The purpose of this study was to get to know the professional practice of the pharmacists who worked in pharmacies, with emphasis placed on the activities related to the pharmaceutical care practice. Material and methods. This is a transversal survey descriptive study; the data were collected among pharmacists of the municipality of Jundiaí/SP. Results. In total, 93 pharmacists were interviewed, most of whom were young (31.7 years of age on average), female (62.4%), private institution graduates (90.1%), and were not pharmacy owners (86.0%); at the pharmacy, they carried out administrative, technical, and attention to patient activities, particularly providing guidance and dispensing medications; 67.7% followed-up on their patient's pharmacotherapeutic treatment, but did not record any information regarding it, while 77.8% had already detected some type of problem with medications. Many pharmacists (91.4%) considered it necessary to work more closely with their patients; however, the main difficulties they mentioned to in order to do so included the lack of time, pharmacy owner support, patient interest, and knowledge. The understanding 62.3% had about pharmaceutical care was related to providing guidance and customer service. Conclusions. The pharmaceutical care practice among the interviewees was not observed as in the literature. Future studies aimed at getting to know how the pharmacists perform their activities are important in order to improve the pharmaceutical services and to improve the understanding about pharmaceutical care can help implanting.

A profissão farmacêutica vive momento de busca de novas práticas baseadas na atenção farmacêutica. O objetivo deste estudo foi conhecer a prática profissional de farmacêuticos que atuavam em farmácias com ênfase em atividades relacionadas à prática da atenção farmacêutica. Material e métodos. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo tipo survey transversal; os dados foram coletados em entrevistas com farmacêuticos do município de Jundiaí/SP. Resultados. Entrevistou-se 93 farmacêuticos, sendo a maioria jovem (31,7 anos em média), do sexo feminino (62,4%), graduada em instituições privadas (90,1%) e não proprietária do estabelecimento (86,0%); desenvolviam na farmácia atividades administrativas, técnicas e de atenção ao usuário, em especial, orientações e dispensação de medicamentos; 67,7% acompanhavam o tratamento farmacoterapêutico dos usuários, mas sem registro de informações, e 77,8% já haviam detectado algum problema com a medicação. Muitos farmacêuticos (91,4%) consideravam necessário realizar um trabalho de maior proximidade com os usuários, porém apontaram como principais dificuldades a falta de: tempo, apoio dos proprietários, interesse dos usuários e conhecimento. A compreensão que 62,3% tinha sobre atenção farmacêutica estava relacionada à orientação e ao atendimento dispensados. Conclusões. A prática da atenção farmacêutica, como preconizada na literatura, não foi observada entre os entrevistados. Estudos futuros para conhecer como os farmacêuticos realizam suas atividades são importantes ao aprimoramento dos serviços farmacêuticos e melhorar a compreensão sobre atenção farmacêutica poderá ajudar na sua implementação. / The pharmaceutical profession is searching for new practices based on pharmaceutical care. The purpose of this study was to get to know the professional practice of the pharmacists who worked in pharmacies, with emphasis placed on the activities related to the pharmaceutical care practice. Material and methods. This is a transversal survey descriptive study; the data were collected among pharmacists of the municipality of Jundiaí/SP. Results. In total, 93 pharmacists were interviewed, most of whom were young (31.7 years of age on average), female (62.4%), private institution graduates (90.1%), and were not pharmacy owners (86.0%); at the pharmacy, they carried out administrative, technical, and attention to patient activities, particularly providing guidance and dispensing medications; 67.7% followed-up on their patient's pharmacotherapeutic treatment, but did not record any information regarding it, while 77.8% had already detected some type of problem with medications. Many pharmacists (91.4%) considered it necessary to work more closely with their patients; however, the main difficulties they mentioned to in order to do so included the lack of time, pharmacy owner support, patient interest, and knowledge. The understanding 62.3% had about pharmaceutical care was related to providing guidance and customer service. Conclusions. The pharmaceutical care practice among the interviewees was not observed as in the literature. Future studies aimed at getting to know how the pharmacists perform their activities are important in order to improve the pharmaceutical services and to improve the understanding about pharmaceutical care can help implanting.

No description available.

There is poor oral health awareness in Nigeria. This is mainly attributed to limited access to correct information on oral health as well as a lack of oral health care providers. The impact of the poor oral health awareness is worse in Northern Nigeria due to the uneven distribution of oral health care workers and training facilities. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the roles of community pharmacists (CPs) in Plateau State, Nigeria as sources of oral health information. Theoretical framework for this study was the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Background knowledge and practices of oral health care by CPs were assessed as related to their demographic characteristics. A 1 sample t-test was used to assess CPs' knowledge of oral health. A binary logistic regression model was conducted to evaluate if some demographic variables could predict Plateau State CPs' interest in becoming more involved in provision of services on oral health problems. According to the study findings, the CPs had a good disposition towards engaging in oral health prevention services by providing some oral health services to patients with oral health problems. In addition, 94.7% of the CPs were willing to advance the cause of oral health care. The disposition of CPs towards oral health could serve as a platform to help propagate oral health care and awareness in their communities. Engaging the CPs might help reduce oral health disparities by increasing oral health awareness, improving oral health-seeking behavior and oral hygiene practices, and improving quality of life via cost effective delivery of pharmacy-based oral health care services.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 240-252). Also available on the Internet.

Habilitationsschrift--Mainz. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-226).

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive utility of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in predicting and explaining pharmacists’ intention to utilize a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) database, when the validity of the prescription/patient need is in question. The study tested the significance of each TPB model construct variable (attitude [A], subjective norm [SN], and perceived behavioral control [PBC]) in predicting pharmacists’ high intention, compared to non-high intention (dichotomous variable). In addition, the study examined the additional contribution of pharmacists’ perception of prescription (PPDA) drug abuse and perceived obligation (PO) to the TPB model. Demographic and practice characteristics were also explored in relation to the TPB model predictors, A, SN and PBC. A mail questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 998 Texas community pharmacists with active licenses. Three focus groups were conducted to collect information regarding pharmacists’ beliefs toward PDMP database utilization. The usable survey response rate was 26.2%. Due to data that were not normally distributed, intention was dichotomized into high intention and non-high intention. The TPB constructs were significant predictors of pharmacists’ high intention. Pharmacists with positive attitudes were almost twice as likely to have high intention (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2 – 2.8). However, SN was the strongest predictor of pharmacists’ high intention (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.4 – 3.3). Pharmacists who reported substantial PBC were also twice as likely to have high intention (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2 – 3.0). PPDA was not significantly related to pharmacists’ high intention. However, pharmacists’ PO was shown to predict high intention above that explained by the TPB model (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.0 – 3.1). The results of this study support the utility of the TPB model with PO in predicting pharmacists’ high intention to utilize a PDMP database. Interventions that address pharmacists’ A, SN, PBC, and PO may be necessary to increase pharmacists’ high intention to utilize a PDMP database when it becomes available. Future studies using intention as a predictor of pharmacists’ behavior are needed to assess the influence of intention on PDMP utilization. / text

This study determined impacts on reported medication errors in pharmacy by analyzing the culture in an undisclosed pharmacy in Florida. SPSS Statistical Software was used to determine the relationship between medication errors and workplace culture. Workplace culture was analyzed by distributing a 43-question culture survey to the pharmacists. There were two treatment groups, Control and Intervention, and the culture survey was two-fold, pre-survey and post-survey, utilizing identical questions to note the difference in a comparative analysis. During the pre-survey, the pharmacists in the Intervention Group received an informational sheet which contained information on a non-punitive culture as well as information about the National Practitioner Databank. The data were collected, compiled into an Excel spreadsheet, and statistically analyzed using SPSS to test the effect due to time (pre versus post intervention), treatment group (control versus intervention) and the interaction between time and treatment group. Of primary interest was knowing if the change from pre to post was significantly different for the two treatment groups using a statistical significance of 0.05. There was a 26.7% increase in the total number of medication errors reported from pre to post survey as compared to the number of reported medication errors for the prior year. It was determined that organizational culture plays a role in the moral make-up of its individuals. Additionally, it was determined that a multi-culture approach was needed to develop a non-punitive culture. Developing a non-punitive culture in pharmacies across the United States is essential to accurate reporting of medication errors. This study will showcase a few attributes - survey development, culture assessment, and culture development - held by Industrial Engineers. Although this study focuses primarily on pharmacy services, very few healthcare facilities employee industrial engineers. Hopefully, this study will be a gateway for industrial engineers to enter into the healthcare industry.

Οι έννοιες της φαρμακευτικής φροντίδας (pharmaceutical care) και του relationship marketing εφαρμόζονται όλο και περισσότερο στην σύγχρονη φαρμακευτική πρακτική. Η φαρμακευτική φροντίδα (ΦΦ) αναφέρεται στην υπεύθυνη παροχή φαρμακοθεραπείας, με στόχο την βελτίωση ή διατήρηση της ποιότητας ζωής του ασθενή, ενώ το relationship marketing στοχεύει στην εγκαθίδρυση μακροπρόθεσμων και ποιοτικών σχέσεων με τον ασθενή-πελάτη. Τις στάσεις και συμπεριφορές σε σχέση με τις παραπάνω έννοιες στόχευε να διερευνήσει η παρούσα ερευνητική μελέτη, σε δείγμα Ελλήνων φαρμακοποιών. Το ερευνητικό εργαλείο ήταν ερωτηματολόγιο με ενότητες που διερευνούσαν τις συμπεριφορές που οι φαρμακοποιοί θεωρούν σχετικές με την ΦΦ, την στάση τους απέναντι στην επικοινωνία με τους ασθενείς-πελάτες, τις αποδόσεις ισχύος στον πελάτη ή στον εαυτό τους, καθώς και την ικανοποίηση που αντλούν από το επάγγελμά τους. Τα ευρήματα έδειξαν ότι υπάρχει σημαντική σύγκλιση των απόψεων των Ελλήνων φαρμακοποιών σχετικά με την ΦΦ και των όψεών της όπως προκύπτουν από την βιβλιογραφία. Επιδράσεις των στάσεων διαπιστώθηκαν στις συμπεριφορές και στις αποδόσεις ισχύος, και των αποδόσεων ισχύος στην ικανοποίηση από το επάγγελμα. Η έννοια της «απόδοσης ισχύος» στον πελάτη-ασθενή εκ μέρους του φαρμακοποιού, όπως αυτή προέκυψε από τα ευρήματα, συζητείται εκτενέστερα. / -