Purchase of prescription and OTC medicines in Slovakia: factors influencing patients' expectations and satisfaction

ABSTRACT Slovakia is a country where the purchase of OTC (over the counter) medicines outside the pharmacy is not allowed by the government. This study aimed at evaluating patients' satisfaction and acceptance of community pharmacists. Customer's behaviour and expectations influencing the purchase of prescription and OTC medicines were analyzed. A structured questionnaire having 15 multiple-choice questions was used to analyze the descriptive parameters. Data collection lasted from January to February 2014. The sample size consisted of 357 high-school educated individuals under 40 years of age. The survey showed that the prescription and OTC medicines were bought equally. The participants reported a 96.0%, 96.3% and 90.2% satisfaction rate with willingness and approach of the community pharmacist, pharmacy services and provision of drug information respectively. As for the OTC medicines, 89.5% people considered the pharmacist an expert: 88.2% purchased medicines with pharmacist's recommendation, 97.8% needed a professional counselling and 97.2% required a pharmacist's guidance. As for the prescription drugs, only 72.1% considered the pharmacist an expert: 96.3% suggested that physician's prescription was significant and 88.3% considered pharmacist's guidance in the process of selection of prescription medicines nonessential. A comprehensible and respectable conversation was highly expected in regards to both the OTC and prescription medicines.

Non-clinical Expectations of Patients in an Oral Healthcare Setup: A Qualitative Research.

Aims: Patients’ expectations are essential part of healthcare delivery system. This would definitely relate to patient satisfaction and consequently would provide a guideline for promotion of community health level. This study illustrates the non-clinical expectations of patients referred to a dental school clinic. Study Design: This is a Qualitative study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was performed in dental school of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, for a period of three months from May to July 2015. Methodology: In this qualitative study, seventeen patients aged 18 years and older were interviewed. These patients were selected by convenient sampling method from a dental school in Tehran, Iran. The data was gathered based upon semi-structured, face-to-face, and an in-depth interview. The transcribed interview texts were analyzed according to the principals of qualitative content analysis. Results: The responses were interpreted into two main themes: “met” and “unmet” expectations. “Met expectations” included four subthemes consisting “students and staff behaviors”, “infection control”, “fees”, and “trust” in dental school clinics. “Unmet expectations” included seven subthemes consisting “length of reception process”, “waiting time”, “accessibility”, “explanation about treatment procedures”, “facilities and equipment”, “working hours of the clinic” and “insurance coverage”. Conclusion: The results highlight that there are many concerns to the eyes of healthcare receivers which should be regarded by healthcare providers and administrators. Meeting these expectations would consequently improve the oral health level of a related community.

Trust and expectation on psychiatrist and its correlation with satisfaction and adherence in patients with mental illness

Background: Trust and expectation are important aspect of doctor patient relationship and its role in patient’s satisfaction and medication adherence is unclear. Objective: To study the levels of trust and expectation on psychiatrist and its relationship with patient’s satisfaction and treatment adherence. Methods: One hundred and twenty three consecutive outpatients were recruited on follow-up if they satisfied the selection criteria. They were assessed with socio-demographic and clinical proforma designed for this study, Patient Trust Scale, Patient Satisfaction Survey, Patient Expectations Questionnaire and Medication Adherence Rating Scale. Results: There was a high mean score on trust scale (Mean 38.9, SD 8.5) and expectation questionnaire (Mean 13.5, SD 3.3). On Kruskal-Wallis H test significant group differences were observed in nuclear vs joint family type (c2 = 18.496, h2 = .151, df = 1, Sig. = .000) and knowledge of treatment option (medication only vs medication + psychotherapy) treatment option (c2 = 18.100, h2 = .148, df = 2, Sig. = .000) and occupational status (employed vs unemployed) (c2 = 3.165, h2 =.029, df = 1, Sig. = .056) on the score of PTS. Similar differences were also observed in method of treatment sought before (no treatment vs allopathic) (c2 = .065, h2 = .065, df = 3, Sig. = .005), knowledge about treatment option (medication only vs medication + psychotherapy) (c2 = .026, h2 = .161, df = 2, Sig. = .000) and occupation (employed vs unemployed) (c2 = .061, h2 = .061, df = 1, Sig. = .006) on the score of PEQ. On regression analysis (R2 = .723, F = 156.46, p = .000) value of the score on patient satisfaction was statistically significant as predicted by score on measure of expectation (beta = -0.095, t = -1.966, p = 0.052) and trust (beta = .842, t = 17.504, p = .000). Discussion: Levels of patients trust and expectation on physician varies with knowledge about treatment option & occupational status, and significantly...