The number of diagnosed hypertensive patients in Japan is estimated to be 9.93 million according to a 2017 patient survey, and the potential number of actual hypertensive patients is estimated to be 43 million. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the actual condition of the Do-shoho (refill of the previous prescription) period for antihypertensive drugs prescribed for a long duration, and to obtain basic data for considering the introduction of a refill system in Japan. Data were collected from the patient medication profile of patients who were prescribed amlodipine OD tablets (Chemiphar®) from July 2012 to December 2019, and the Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test were performed with the Do-shoho period as the test variable. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the items for which significant differences were obtained. The results of the analysis showed that the factors affecting the duration of the Do-shoho were the prescribing source, diagnosis, and the maximum number of prescription days. Of the patients surveyed (N=321), 199 (62.0%) had a Do-shoho duration of 6 months or longer, which was more than half of the total number of patients. The results suggest that many patients may be eligible for the refill prescription system if pharmacists are able to properly assess the continuation of prescriptions.

In Japan, based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s “Pharmacy Vision for Patients” (2015), there has been a growing need to shift from “drug-centered, physical work” to “patient-centered, interpersonal work.” Medication counseling is one of the most important tasks of pharmacists. In the present study, we focused on the questions asked by patients during medication counseling, and statistically analyzed the content of the questions and the patient attributes obtained from the patient medication profile. The study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 on patients who visited two pharmacies. Data from a total of 3,300 patients was collected, of which 859 asked questions during medication counseling, accounting for about 26% of the total. Attributes that significantly influenced the asking of questions included gender, new prescriptions, and who was being instructed, especially for women and parents of infants. In terms of topic, questions about the duration and timing of taking the medication and about the medication itself were common in all departments. In terms of medication effects, there were many questions about topical and central nervous system medications, but there were also questions about non-medication matters such as tests. When providing medication counseling, it is expected that pharmacists will actively provide instructions to resolve patients’ questions based on the characteristics of each pharmacy and on patient demographics, as well as improve the quality of interpersonal services according to the patient’s background.