Introduction: We aimed to evaluate the impact of lifestyle modifications on the risk of eradication failure in patients undergoing first-line therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection.Methods: A survey was conducted in a community pharmacy to assess changes in alcohol consumption, smoking, and high-fat diet intake before, during, and after first-line therapy for H. pylori infection in enrolled patients.Results: A total of 100 patients (response rate: 3.4%) were included in the analysis. Before therapy, 20 patients (20%) smoked, 35 patients (35%) consumed alcohol, and 91 patients (91%) had a high-fat diet. During therapy, the proportion of patients who changed their habits was 15.0% (3/20) for smoking, 71.4% (25/35) for alcohol consumption, and 28.6% (26/91) for high-fat diet. However, the continuation of these changes post-therapy was minimal.Conclusion: Among patients undergoing first-line therapy for H. pylori infection, lifestyle habits that increase the risk of eradication failure were prevalent, with many patients maintaining their habits during therapy except for alcohol consumption. These findings provide fundamental data for lifestyle counselling during eradication therapy.

Objective: To determine the extent of pharmacists’ burden of inquiries from healthcare professionals in community pharmacies. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Methods: A web-based survey was administered to pharmacists affiliated with Medical System Network Group, Inc.’s community pharmacies in Japan. The survey was conducted from February 15 to March 31, 2022. The primary outcome was the burden of inquiries from healthcare professionals and the secondary outcome was the level of burden by job category. Healthcare professionals were defined as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, administrators, care managers, and nursing home staff. To assess the degree of burden, participants were asked “Do you feel burdened by inquiries from health care professionals ? ” and their response was rated on a 5-point Likert scale (not at all, slightly, a little, a lot, and very much). The responses “a lot” and “very much” were combined and defined as “burdened.” To identify the causes of burden, factors of burden and inquiries were investigated. Results: Totally, 1,667 participants were recruited, of which 915 (54.9%) were included in the analysis (women: 62.6%). The participants had a median age of 38 years (interquartile range 31, 48), and worked as pharmacists for 12 years (interquartile range 5, 20). Nearly 13.5% of the respondents felt burdened by inquiries from healthcare professionals and 34.7% reported that physician inquiries were burdensome. The most common reason for feeling burdened was a lack of knowledge about the inquiries (77.3%). Conclusion: It was found that 13.5% of respondents felt burdened when dealing with inquiries from healthcare professionals to pharmacists. In particular, a high percentage of respondents felt burdened by inquiries from physicians. Further research is needed to clarify whether the introduction of a tool that matches the results of this study will reduce the burden of responding to inquiries.