Survey Targeting Community Pharmacists regarding Consultation Requests from Patients Owing to Media Reports on

Shungo Imai; Shinya Abe; Hikaru Matsui; Hitoshi Kashiwagi; Yuki Sato; Yoh Takekuma; Shouko Yoshimachi; Mitsuru Sugawara

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Survey Targeting Community Pharmacists regarding Consultation Requests from Patients Owing to Media Reports on "Dangers of Drugs"

VernacularTitle:薬局薬剤師を対象としたメディアによる「くすりの危険性」に関する報道に起因する患者からの相談応需の実態調査
Author: Shungo IMAI ¹ ; Shinya ABE ² ; Hikaru MATSUI ³ ; Hitoshi KASHIWAGI ³ ; Yuki SATO ¹ ; Yoh TAKEKUMA ¹ ; Shouko YOSHIMACHI ⁴ ; Mitsuru SUGAWARA ³
Author Information

1. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University
2. Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy
3. Department of Pharmacy, Hokkaido University Hospital
4. Tsuruha Holdings Inc
Keywords: mass media; dangerous drugs; community pharmacist
From:Japanese Journal of Drug Informatics 2022;24(2):75-87
CountryJapan
Language:Japanese
Abstract: Objective: In our previous study, we revealed that articles on "dangerous drugs" in weekly magazines are inadequate and incomplete with respect to scientific validity, and that there may be many aspects that need to be improved. Next, the extent to which medical professionals, including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, received consultations by patients owing to such media reports and what countermeasures are implemented requires clarification. In the present study, as a first step, we performed a questionnaire survey of community pharmacists to clarify the occurrence of such consultations.Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 698 community pharmacists. The survey was conducted over 10 days from December 8 to 17, 2021.Results: Out of the 698 community pharmacists, 545 responded (response rate: 78.1%). Of these, 323 (59.3%) had experienced consultations from patients owing to media reports on the dangers of drugs. Of the 323 respondents, 215 (66.6%) had experienced these consultations less than five times. In contrast, 83 respondents (25.7%) reported more than 10 such consultations. Of the 545 respondents, 190 (34.9%) responded that they routinely perform measures to deal with media reports on the dangers of drugs. The most common routine measure was the "regular checking of various media sources (including preparation of responses when receiving consultation requests)."Conclusion: Our results indicated that more than half of the community pharmacists had experienced receiving consultations from patients, although only approximately 30% were adopting routine measures. This suggests that community pharmacists have been affected to some extent by these media reports, and that further countermeasures need to be implemented.