ABSTRACT
Advances in information and communication technology (ICT)-especially, the spread of social networking services (SNSs)-have facilitated the dissemination of information and an explosion of health information lacking scientific evidence. Therefore, we believe that community pharmacies are the most suitable bases for distributing health information. In 2019, we launched the health support pharmacy “Toyonaka Model” in collaboration with the pharmaceutical association, municipal government, and university. Touch-panel digital signage (DS) was used for real-time distribution of ever-changing information and a rapid grasp of pharmacy users’ responses to various types of information. Between September 2019 and August 2021, one DS was installed in a pharmacy in each of Toyonaka City’s seven areas along with 14 questions on the usefulness of the delivered information. Respondents answered the 14 questions by a tablet or questionnaire; touch logs for DS were collected. When a pharmacy user consulted with a pharmacist about information delivered via DS, the contents were recorded and described by the pharmacist on a 4-point scale (e.g., “inquiry only,” “went through to execution”). From the 850 completed questionnaires and 61,565 touches, 88.7% of the respondents indicated that the information was useful, and 90.0% expressed interest in receiving more health information in the future. Thus, health information provided by DS may be useful to pharmacy users, as demonstrated by 113 cases in which the pharmacist was consulted regarding such information. In 62 of these cases, there were indications that the DS information might have influenced users’ behavior and intended actions.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, one of Japan’s policies for controlling increased medical expenses is promoting self-medication. Owing to their influence on the health of young people, energy drinks (a caffeine-containing beverage) have attracted attention. However, only a few surveys have evaluated their use in Japan. Therefore, we conducted a questionnaire survey on university students on self-medication interest and energy drink use trend, involving 180 students aged 18-26 years. The results showed 28.3% of the students were interested in self-medication and 4.4% were knowledgeable on the self-medication tax system. Additionally, 73.9% of them used over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, especially common cold medicines (65.0%). Further, 77.2% of them consumed energy drinks, mainly to stay awake (61.9%), and most frequently from evening to midnight (54.7%). Furthermore, 26.6% of the students had experienced discomfort or poor health when taking energy drinks, with the most common symptoms being “tachycardia” (n＝13) and “sleep disorders” (n＝12). Pharmacy and drugstore pharmacists could contribute to caffeine overdose prevention by educating the public on the caffeine content of common cold medications and various foods and drinks such as energy drinks. It is desirable for future studies to investigate in depth the usage of caffeine-containing beverages, including energy drinks.