Impact of a drug dispensing model at a Community Pharmacy in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

Although dispensing of medication has been addressed by theoretical models, studies that confirm the impact of this service are still needed. The objective was to evaluate the impact of a new model of medicine dispensing system on patients' medication knowledge, adherence to treatment and satisfaction. One hundred and four patients attending the dispensing service of a community pharmacy between 21 January 2013 and 20 April 2013 were included in this intervention study. The impact of the service on patients' medication knowledge, adherence to treatment and satisfaction was assessed by using validated questionnaires at two time points: at the moment of medication dispensing and 30 days thereafter by telephone contact. Statistical analysis was performed by McNemar's test, and a p<0.05 was set as statistically significant. The number of patients showing insufficient knowledge about medications decreased by 50% (p < 0.05), and the number of those showing sufficient knowledge was three times greater (p < 0.05) after medicine dispensing. A high level of satisfaction was observed. Improvement of medication adherence, however, was not observed. The proposed system model for drug dispensing improved patients' knowledge about medication and satisfaction

Medication dispensing as an opportunity for patient counseling and approach to drug-related problems

ABSTRACT The objective was to describe and evaluate a model of drug dispensing developed and implemented in a community pharmacy in Brazil. This was a descriptive, observational, quasi-experimental study performed in the period between 21 January 2013 and 20 April 2013. The model was evaluated and described in terms of three parameters: structure, process and outcome. The description and assessment of each parameter was performed as follows: (I) Structure: profile of patients, pharmacist's professional profile, physical facility, informational material; (II) Process: drug-related problems, pharmaceutical interventions performed, results of pharmaceutical interventions; (III) Outcome: patient knowledge of medications. Dispensing service improved patient knowledge of medications (p < 0.05), which was associated with pharmacotherapy complexity (p < 0.05). The main problems identified were related to lack of patient knowledge regarding their medication (52.9%). Pharmaceutical interventions were mostly performed directly to the patients (86.3%) by verbal (95.4%) and written (68.2%) information, and most of the problems were completely solved (62.7%). The medicine dispensing model was able to identify and solve drug-related problems and promote an improvement in patient knowledge about medication.

RESUMO O objetivo foi descrever e avaliar um modelo de serviço de dispensação de medicamentos desenvolvido e implantado em uma Farmácia Comunitária no Brasil. Trata-se de restudo descritivo, observacional e quase-experimental, realizado no período de 21 de janeiro a 20 de abril de 2013. A descrição e avaliação do modelo foi realizada segundo os parâmetros: estrutura, processo e resultado.Os aspectos descritos e avaliados foram: 1. Estrutura: perfil dos pacientes, perfil profissiográfico dos farmacêuticos, estrutura física, material de informação; 2. Processo: problemas relacionados ao medicamento detectados, intervenções farmacêuticas realizadas, resultados das intervenções farmacêuticas; 3. Resultado: conhecimento do pacientes sobre os medicamentos utilizados. A dispensação proporcionou melhora do conhecimento do paciente sobre os medicamentos (p < 0,05), que demonstrou-se associada à complexidade da farmacoterapia (p < 0,05). Foram identificados majoritariamente problemas relacionados à falta de condições do paciente em utilizar o medicamento (52,94%). As intervenções farmacêuticas foram realizadas predominantemente junto ao paciente (86,27%) através do fornecimento de informações verbais (95,4%) e escritas (68,2%) e, em sua maioria, o problema que originou a intervenção foi totalmente resolvido (62,75%).O serviço foi capaz de identificar e resolver os problemas relacionados ao medicamento e contribuiu para a melhoria do conhecimento dos pacientes relativo aos medicamentos utilizados.