Questionnaire on Reciprocal Patient-Pharmacist Relationships for Good Self-Medication Practices / 医薬品情報学

ABSTRACT

<b>Objective: </b>It is unclear whether the importance of the healthcare professional’s role and the relationship between healthcare users and providers are well understood in self-medication (SM) practices.  We conducted a self-report survey to examine how the role of healthcare professionals in SM is interpreted and how the reciprocal relationship between consumers and pharmacists in SM is recognized.<br><b>Design: </b>Questionnaire survey.<br><b>Methods: </b>The sample comprised 493 medical professionals (283 pharmacists at hospitals, community pharmacies, and drug stores; 74 instructors at colleges of pharmacy; and 136 personnel of SM-related academic societies).  We mailed questionnaires with informed consent forms from September to November, 2014; those who agreed to participate mailed completed questionnaires back.  We examined how individuals define and interpret SM, clarified each role of pharmacists and consumers regarding several aspects of SM, and collected respondents’ demographic information.<br><b>Results: </b>Of the 493 questionnaires mailed, 125 (25%) were returned.  Over 65% of respondents reported familiarity with the preexisting definitions of SM that include the healthcare professional’s role.  However, when asked to define SM in their own words, only 30% included the role of healthcare professionals.  Among respondents who were not engaged in SM-related research, education or promotion, only 24% included the healthcare professionals’ role.  Also, when asked to describe the concrete roles of both pharmacists and consumers, respondents wrote fewer comments on improving living habits, consulting about health concerns, and implementing self-checks than on serving consumers with over-the-counter drugs and health foods.<br><b>Conclusion: </b>The importance of reciprocal relationships in SM was not well recognized in our sample.  Our results suggest that it is imperative to disseminate information to raise healthcare professional’s recognition on the importance and clarification of some or all roles of theirs in SM.