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Background: Various visual tools are used to improve medication adherence in communication with the patient. Pharmaceutical pictograms are one such tool utilized within this communication process. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the eye movement of the participants and to recommend the most suitable location of pictograms on pharmaceutical packaging accordingly. It also aims to show whether there is a significant correlation between the effectiveness of pictograms and the health literacy, age, and gender of the participant. Methods: Forty-two participants were exposed to sixty stimuli showing four different pharmaceutical packages as an on-screen slide show. Participants were asked what they understood from the pictograms on the packaging, and their eye movements were examined using eye tracking to determine heat maps and areas of interest, and to measure the time to first fixation, total fixation duration, and percentage fixated. Results: The study revealed that the understanding level of the pictograms was determined at between 11.9 % and 71.43 %. Among the pictograms, only a small percentage 13% - namely numbers 12 and 13 which were prepared and validated by the FIP, achieved a score of 67%, the minimum level of comprehension in accordance with ISO 3684. We observed that participants fixated at least once on the pictograms up to 95% of the time. The pictograms were found to be most easily noticed at the center with a secondary focus area towards center-right parts of the packaging. Vertical design was highly engaging for participants regardless of health literacy. The significant relationship was found between the understanding of the pictograms and gender when mean values are examined. However, no significant relationship was between health literacy and pictogram comprehension level. Conclusions: This is the first study to have used eye tracking to analyze pictograms added to real pharmaceutical packaging on the market. Its findings can guide pharmaceutical companies to design their packaging in a way that prioritizes patient safety, and to place critical pictograms more effectively. These results can be adapted medication label design in hospitals to promote appropriate use. Studies to improve patient adherence by using pictograms should be diversified.
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Objectives: The "safe if natural" perception of herbal products may have several undesirable side effects. It is important to raise awareness in public order to change this perception and ensure safer use of herbal products. The role of pharmacists is to supply herbal medicines safely and to provide accurate information to the patients about herbal products. The aim of this study was to analyze the perspective, knowledge, attitude, and behavior of community pharmacists about phytovigilance. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed using community pharmacists (n= 879) using face-to-face surveys between April-June 2019 in Istanbul. For statistical analysis, student's t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare the mean values of the groups. Results: It was determined that 58.1% of the pharmacists heard phytovigilance for the first time and 93.5% of them had not reported any safety-related herbal medicine reported so far. Among the reasons for not reporting, well-known adverse reactions were found to be 24.2% and the difficulty of reporting was found to be 21.8%. 84.6% of pharmacists have never received training related to phytovigilance. It was found that pharmacists with a working experience of more than 20 years primarily selected herbal products provided in their pharmacy based on the manufacturing company primarily, whereas others selected based on the efficacy of the products. Conclusion: The results of this study have revealed the necessity to increase training on the safety of herbal medicines to cover all stakeholders and to give due importance to phytovigilance. The phytovigilance systems established in some countries for public health should be expanded to other countries. There is a need for a more user-friendly reporting system to increase adverse reaction reporting by pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. In the future, plan to perform studies to raise awareness in the public and promote reporting with digital technologies.
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Abstract Nowadays, the number of medicines manufactured using advanced technologies such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and 3D printing is increasing along with the accelerated pace of technological change. Evaluating high technology medicines from the perspective of community pharmacists is important for the quality of the pharmacy practice. The aim is to analyze the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of community pharmacists regarding advanced technology medicines and to examine the social and ethical aspects from the pharmacist's perspective. A face-to-face cross-sectional survey was conducted with each of the 879 community pharmacists in Istanbul using a stratified sampling method. In this context, the gaps in pharmacists' knowledge of high technology medicines were determined. It has been found that the pharmacists' level of knowledge and willingness to learn new technologies differs according to the current education levels of the pharmacists and diversity in patient profiles. The pharmacists should close the knowledge gaps and update their information about medicines that are manufactured via the implementation of advanced technologies. The more pharmacists adapt to technology, the better guidance they can offer to society. This will also ensure that communication between the pharmacist and the patient to be built on trust, and significantly improve pharmacy practice.
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Objectives: The over-the-counter (OTC) drug (i.e., non-prescription drugs) market is growing significantly on a global scale. Our study reviews strategies for OTCs, together with other non-pharmaceutical products, such as herbal products, dietary supplements, and other healthcare products. The aim of this study is to analyze the expanded OTC industry to offer possible strategic solutions for existing problems. Materials and Methods: We utilized integrated SWOT and Fuzzy Analytic Network Process analyses, together with quantitative analysis covering industry professionals' perspectives. Results: Our findings showed that the most suitable market strategies are WO2 (i.e., to use information and digital technologies, including mobile applications and social media, to reduce marketing costs), SO2 (i.e., to promote self-medication/self-care to grow the OTC market and invest in information and communication technologies for this purpose), and ST2 (i.e., to improve health literacy and increase access to accurate and understandable information via alternative channels, such as the internet and social media). These key strategies are closely related to the utilization of digital technologies. Other strategies, such as SO1 (i.e., to encourage pharmacists to provide consulting for OTC products, which carry high profitability) and ST1 (i.e., to undertake stakeholder training programs to ensure production quality and introduce safe use to improve community health), were examined in detail, and their outcomes were interpreted in this study. Conclusion: Given the impact of digital transformation, the same strategies can be implemented for other emerging OTC markets. This study underlines the importance of the OTC sector as one of the main drivers for improving community health and reducing health costs.
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Silver linden, Tilia argentea Desf. ex DC (Tiliaceae) leaves are used in the treatment of common cold and bronchitis. In order to evaluate this information, antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the two main flavonoid glycosides: kaempferol-3,7-O-alpha-dirhamnoside and quercetin-3,7-O-alpha-dirhamnoside isolated from the leaves, were investigated. For the antinociceptive activity, p-benzoquinone-induced writhing test and for the anti-inflammatory activity, carrageenan-induced hind paw edema model in mice were used. Both compounds were shown to possess potent antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activity at 50 mg/kg dose, per os, without inducing any apparent acute toxicity as well as gastric damage.
