PhD Scientific Days 2021

PH_II_P: Pharmaceutical Sciences II. Posters

Assessing the opinions and needs of patients with polypharmacy on medication review in the frame of basic pharmaceutical care in Hungarian community pharmacies

Text of the abstract

In Hungary, the statutory task of community pharmacists is to carry out a medication review in the framework of basic pharmaceutical care. In the course of this activity, the pharmacist performs a critical review of the drugs taken by the patient, ensuring their necessity, effectiveness, and safety, in collaboration with the patient's general practitioner.

Previous research has shown that the activity has many benefits for the patient, however, little data is available on patients’ attitudes toward the service. The aim of the research was to assess these factors for the future development and wider practical implementation of this service.

Medication review was performed with the participation of specialist pharmacist candidates in community pharmacies, using a uniform procedure, for 3 months. The project included patients with polypharmacy (taking at least 5 drugs continuously) over the age of 18 who get their own medication. Patient satisfaction and needs were assessed at the end of the project with a self-developed questionnaire.

The questionnaire was completed by 78 pharmacists with 670 patients. The majority of patients were satisfied with the service (3.37 points out of 4), 96.6% would recommend it to others. Using the uniform methodology, it was a novelty for many of the participants to get detailed information on the integration of medication into everyday life (38.4% of respondents), side effects (37.6%), interactions (34.9%), and regular medications (34.6%). In the future, 94.7% of patients would like to receive a wider range of pharmacist services: a drug recommendation for mild symptoms without medical consultation (56.6%), regular consultation on illness or drugs (54.8%), regular monitoring of medications (53.0%), and blood pressure measurement (51.0%).

Based on our results, we can conclude that medication review done in the framework of basic pharmacological care is found to be useful by patients. The uniform methodology used has highlighted many shortcomings in everyday practice, so more emphasis needs to be placed on standardized practice. The needs of patients call attention to the problems of primary care, which pharmacists can help to fill in the future.

Supported by the ÚNKP-20-3-II New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.

University and Doctoral School

Semmelweis University, Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical Sciences