Scielo RSS http://scielo.isciii.es/rss.php?pid=1885-642X20170001&lang=es vol. 15 num. 1 lang. es http://scielo.isciii.es/img/en/fbpelogp.gif http://scielo.isciii.es http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100001&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Background: Antimicrobial resistance is becoming a major public health challenge worldwide, caused primarily by the misuse of antibiotics. Antibiotic use is closely related to the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of a population. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices about antibiotic use among the general public in Kosovo. Methods: A cross-sectional face-to-face survey was carried out with a sample of 811 randomly selected Kosovo residents. The methodology used for this survey was based on the European Commission Eurobarometer survey on antimicrobial resistance. Results: More than half of respondents (58.7%) have used antibiotics during the past year. A quarter of respondents consumed antibiotics without a medical prescription. The most common reasons for usage were flu (23.8%), followed by sore throat (20.2%), cold (13%) and common cold (7.6%). 42.5% of respondents think that antibiotics are effective against viral infections. Almost half of respondents (46.7%) received information about the unnecessary use of antibiotics and 32.5% of them report having changed their views and behaviours after receiving this information. Health care workers were identified as the most trustworthy source of information on antibiotic use (67.2%). Conclusion: These results provide quantitative baseline data on Kosovar knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding the use of antibiotic. These findings have potential to empower educational campaigns to promote the prudent use of antibiotics in both community and health care settings. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100002&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Objective: To determine which drug references Utah pharmacists use most frequently. To determine which types of drug information questions are most commonly asked, and whether Utah pharmacists have access to adequate references to respond to these questions. Methods: A 19-question survey was created using Qualtrics, LLC (Provo, Utah) software. An electronic survey link was sent to 1,431 pharmacists with a valid e-mail address listed in the Department of Professional Licensing database. Questions focused on available references in the participant's pharmacy, how current the references are, and the participant's use of the references. Surveys were analyzed for participants practicing in either community or hospital pharmacies in the state of Utah. Results: A total of 147 responses were included in the analysis. Approximately 44% of respondents practiced in the community, and 56% practiced in a hospital setting. The most commonly used references by Utah pharmacists are Micromedex, Lexicomp, UpToDate, Clinical Pharmacology, and Drug Facts & Comparisons. Pharmacists in the community frequently receive questions related to adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, and over-the-counter medications. Pharmacists in the hospital frequently receive questions relating to dosage and administration, drug interactions, and adverse drug reactions. About 89% of community pharmacists and 96% of hospital pharmacists feel available references are adequate to answer the questions they receive. Conclusions: Utah pharmacists generally use large reference suites to answer drug information questions. The majority of pharmacists consider the references available to them to be adequate to answer the questions they receive. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100003&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Background: Value added services (VAS) are an innovative dispensing system created to provide an alternative means of collecting partial drug supply from our hospital. This in turn was projected to reduce the necessity for patient to visit pharmacy counter and thus reduce the burden of prescription handling. Objective: To evaluate the impact of increased VAS uptake following promotional campaign towards patient waiting time and to explore factors that may affect patient waiting time at the Ambulatory Pharmacy, Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Methods: A quasi experimental study design was conducted from September 2014 till June 2015 at the Ambulatory Pharmacy. During pre-intervention phase, baseline parameters were collected retrospectively. Then, VAS promotional campaign was carried out for six months and whilst this was done, the primary outcome of patient waiting time was measured by percentage of prescription served less than 30 minutes. A linear regression analysis was used to determine the impact of increased VAS uptake towards patient waiting time. Results: An increased in percentage of VAS registration (20.9% vs 35.7%, p<0.001) was observed after the promotional campaign. The mean percentage of prescription served less than 30 minutes increased from 83.2% SD=15.9 to 90.3% SD=11.5, p=0.001. After controlling for covariates, it was found that patient waiting time was affected by number of pharmacy technicians (b=-0.0349, 95%CI-0.0548 : -0.0150, p=0.001), number of pharmacy counters (b=0.1125, 95%CI 0.0631 : 0.1620, p<0.001), number of prescriptions (b=0.0008, 95%CI 0.0004 : 0.0011, p<0.001), and number of refill prescriptions (b=0.0004, 95%CI 0.0002 : 0.0007, p<0.001). The increased in percentage of VAS registration was associated with reduction in number of refill prescription (b=-2.9838, 95%CI -4.2289 : -1.7388, p<0.001). Conclusions: Patient waiting time at the Ambulatory Pharmacy improved with the increased in VAS registration. The impact of increased VAS uptake on patient waiting time resulted from reduction in refill prescriptions. Patient waiting time is influenced by number of pharmacy technicians, number of pharmacy counters, number of prescriptions and number of refill prescriptions. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100004&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Objective: To evaluate the current community pharmacists' interventions and job satisfaction, secondary to the alteration in the financial rewards. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out, using a proportionate random sample of Lebanese community pharmacy owners from all districts of Lebanon. Results: Out of 1618 distributed questionnaires, 1465 (90.5%) were collected back from pharmacy owners. Our study results showed that the monthly sales and profit decreased significantly in the last decade as well as the number of loyal customers (p<0.001 for all). The rent, the total assistant pharmacists' and employees' salaries, income taxes, municipality fees, the total bills (electricity, water, cleaning, security) and the disposal of expired products per year significantly increased during the last 10 years (p<0.001). 95% of the owners said they cannot afford to hire any more pharmacists while 45% said they cannot afford buying software for their pharmacies. Finally, 89% of these owners admitted that their situation was better 10 years ago compared to nowadays. Conclusion: Most Lebanese community pharmacists are not financially satisfied; their financial situation deteriorated in the last decade. The ministry of Health along with the Order of Pharmacists in Lebanon should cooperate together to resolve this problem since they are two entities responsible for the patient's health. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100005&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Background: Medication reconciliation is a major component of safe patient care. One of the main problems in the implementation of a medication reconciliation process is the lack of human resources. With limited resources, it is better to target medication reconciliation resources to patients who will derive the most benefit from it. Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine the frequency and types of medication reconciliation errors identified by pharmacists performing medication reconciliation at admission. Each medication error was rated for its potential to cause patient harm during hospitalization. A secondary objective was to determine risk factors associated with medication reconciliation errors. Methods: This was a prospective, single-center pilot study conducted in the internal medicine and surgical wards of a tertiary care teaching hospital in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. A clinical pharmacist took the best possible medication history of patients admitted to medical and surgical services and compared with the medication orders at hospital admission; any identified discrepancies were noted and analyzed for reconciliation errors. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine the risk factors related to reconciliation errors. Results: A total of 328 patients (138 in surgical and 198 in medical) were included in the study. For the 1419 medications recorded, 1091 discrepancies were discovered out of which 491 (41.6%) were reconciliation errors. The errors affected 177 patients (54%). The incidence of reconciliation errors in the medical patient group was 25.1% and 32.0% in the surgical group (p<0.001). In both groups, the most frequent reconciliation error was the omission (43.5% and 51.2%). Lipid-lowering (12.4%) and antihypertensive agents were most commonly involved. If undetected, 43.6% of order errors were rated as potentially requiring increased monitoring or intervention to preclude harm; 17.7% were rated as potentially harmful. A multivariate logistic regression model showed that patients aged ≥65 years, polypharmacy, and prescriptions for hypoglycemic drugs and warfarin were more likely associated with reconciliation errors. Conclusion: There is a high failure rate in medication reconciliation process in patients admitted to the medical and surgical department. The reconciliation process proves to be a useful tool since nearly half of avoided reconciliation errors were unintentional and had the potential for harm. This strategy, based on our results and the difficulty of applying the process to all patients should be directed primarily to the patients at increased risk of error. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100006&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Objective: This work aimed to describe attitudes and practices of both community pharmacies and patent and proprietary medicine vendor (PPMV) outlets towards over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic use for musculoskeletal pain states within Zaria, Nigeria. Methods: The study was carried out in 2 phases from May to August 2016. Phase one was a cross-sectional survey of 40 retail drug outlets (10 community pharmacies and 30 PPMVs). A simulated patient scenario of a young adult male complaining of acute onset back pain was used to collect data on the type and quality of analgesic recommended, duration of consultation, as well as nature of information provided during the drug dispensing process. The second phase involved semi structured interviews with 7 drug vendors (4 pharmacists and 3 patent medicine vendors). The interviewees were asked questions to assess their knowledge of analgesics as well as what type of analgesic they would recommend in three hypothetical patient scenarios. Results: A wide variety of therapeutic agents were recommended for the simulated patient. Majority of these drugs were oral analgesics and contained NSAIDS either alone or in combination. Less than half of both patent medicine outlets and pharmacies (26.7% and 40% respectively) provided the simulated patient with information on duration of therapy, and asked the patient questions about their past medical and medication history (30% and 33.3% respectively). All analgesics purchased from the pharmacies were registered with the Nigerian drug regulatory agency and had expiry dates compared to only 66.7% and 90% of those bought from patent medicine outlets. Interviewed drug vendors admitted to obtaining a large amount of their knowledge on analgesics from drug information leaflets and prior learning. They also showed some knowledge deficits when questioned on side effects of analgesics and appropriate drug selection in the hypothetical scenarios. Conclusions: There are problems with both the OTC analgesics recommended, and the counselling provided for these medicines by drug vendors within the Zaria community. While both pharmacies and patent medicine outlets had shortcomings in several of the areas assessed by the simulated patient, the pharmacies performed better. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100007&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Background: Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remains the most distressing event in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC). Objective: Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of olanzapine containing regimen in preventing acute, delayed and overall phases of CINV. Methods: PubMed, EBSCO, and Cochrane central register of controlled trials electronic databases were searched to identify RCTs that compared the effects of olanzapine with non-olanzapine regimen in preventing CINV. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compared olanzapine containing regimen with non-olanzapine regimen were included. The primary outcomes were the percentage of patients achieving no vomiting or no nausea in acute, delayed and overall phases. Results: 13 RCTs that enrolled 1686 participants were included in this meta-analysis. 852 patients were assigned to olanzapine and 834 patients were assigned to non-olanzapine regimen (other standard antiemetic regimen). The percentages of no emesis achieved were 87.5%, 76.2%, 73.6% in olanzapine versus 76.7%, 61.8%, and 56.4% in non-olanzapine regimen in acute, delayed and overall phases, respectively. The percentages of no nausea were 82%, 64.3%, 61.6% in olanzapine group versus 71.3%, 41.8%, and 40.6% in non-olanzapine group in acute, delayed and overall phases, respectively. In general, olanzapine containing regimen achieved statistical superiority to non-olanzapine regimen in no vomiting endpoint in acute phase (OR 2.16; 95%CI 1.60 to 2.91, p<0.00001; I-square=5%; p=0.40), delayed phase (OR 2.28; 95%CI 1.1.46 to 3.54, p=0.0003; I-square=65%; p=0.001) and overall phase (OR 2.48; 95%CI 1.59 to 3.86, p<0.0001; I-square=69%; p< 0.0001). Conclusion: The current meta-analysis showed that olanzapine was statistically and clinically superior to non-olanzapine regimen in preventing CINV in most domains of the parameters. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100008&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Objectives: To evaluate perception, extent of involvement and barriers to pharmacy practice-based research among community and hospital pharmacists in Ibadan, Oyo state, southwestern Nigeria. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out among 65 hospital and 86 community pharmacists with at least five-year post-qualification experience, using pre-tested questionnaire. Socio-demographic information, extent of involvement, relevance and scope, as well as barriers to pharmacy practice-based research were explored. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney-U tests were used for evaluating ranked variables at p<0.05. Results: Nearly all participants (>95.0%) in each practice category agreed that pharmacy practice-based research is essential to pharmacy profession. Greater than 90.0% agreed that pharmacy practice-based research may help in identifying gaps to improve practice. Thirty-five (40.7%) community and 36(55.4%) hospital pharmacist participants had previously involved in practice-based research. Seventy-seven (89.5%) community and 55(84.3%) hospital pharmacists agreed that acquisition of additional research-oriented training is essential for effective conduct of pharmacy practice-based research. More than one-half in each category agreed that inadequate financial commitment and lack of access to patient's data are major barriers to pharmacy practice-based research. Conclusions: Community and hospital pharmacists agreed that pharmacy practice based research is essential to pharmacy profession, especially in identifying areas of focus to improve practice. Necessity for acquiring additional training in research, financial constraints and lack of access to patient's data were identified as barriers to pharmacy practice-based research. Thus, there is a need to continually stimulate pharmacists' interest in research so as to enhance professional competence and promote healthcare development. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100009&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstrat Background: Investigating beliefs about medicines has been of interest over the past years, with studies aiming to better understand theoretical reasons behind development of such beliefs. Objective: This study aimed to produce a culturally and contextually appropriate version of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) in the Maltese language and to assess its psychometric properties. Methods: Medication beliefs were evaluated using the BMQ which is divided into two sections: BMQ-General (sub-scales: Overuse and Harm, 4 items per sub-scale) and BMQ-Specific (sub-scales: Necessity and Concerns, 5 items per sub-scale). Following translation/back translation, the Maltese version of the BMQ was applied to patients having asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or depression who attended out-patients' clinics at the main state general hospital in Malta between June and September 2013. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, alpha, was used to determine internal consistency of the BMQ and Principal Component Analysis using Varimax rotation with Kaiser normalisation was carried out to analyse component loading of the items on the respective sub-scales. Results: The Maltese version of the BMQ showed acceptable internal consistency for the harm scale (alpha=0.56), the necessity scale (alpha=0.73) and the concerns scale (alpha=0.66), however the overuse scale gave poor internal consistency (alpha=0.48) due to the item on natural remedies which posed some difficulty in the Maltese sample. The final solution for Principal Component Analysis yielded a four-factor structure representing the 4 sub-scales of the BMQ, with results being comparable to previous studies out in different languages. Conclusion: The Maltese version of the BMQ was found to have acceptable psychometric properties for the beliefs about medicines in the Maltese population. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100010&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Background: Community pharmacists play a crucial role in reducing medication related health problems and improving the patient's overall wellbeing. Evidence suggests that community pharmacist led counseling services result in a better clinical and self-reported outcome, including a higher level of satisfaction and quality of life. Objective: This study aims to document self-reported and actual levels of community pharmacists' involvement in the provision of patient counseling and barriers that limit their involvement in such services. Methods: Simulated patient visits and a cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists were employed in Gondar town, Ethiopia between March 15 and May 15, 2016 to observe actual counseling practices and to assess their reported counseling practices respectively. Four different scenarios were developed for the simulated patient visit. A well designed questionnaire and an assessment form were used for the survey and simulated patient visit. Results: In the cross-sectional survey, 84 pharmacists were approached and 78 agreed to participate (92.8 % response rate). Of the respondents, 96.1% agreed/strongly agreed that patient counseling is important and 69.3% strongly agreed that patient counseling should be a professional duty. The most frequent information provided to patients were dosing schedule of drugs, how to take medication, and drug-food interaction. Majority of community pharmacists either strongly agreed (42.1%) or agreed (51.3%) that patients are comfortable towards their counseling practice. A total of 48 simulated visits were conducted and a medicine was dispensed in all visits. In all four scenarios, dosage schedule (100%), how to take medication (97.6%) and drug-food interaction (69.1%) were the most common type of information provided while what to do when dose is missed (100%), contraindication (95.2%) and the importance of compliance or adherence (92.9%) were the most commonly ignored types of information. Conclusions: The present study emphasizes the existing gap in self-reported and actual counseling practices by community pharmacist in Gondar town, Ethiopia. Hence, the ministry of health, local health policy makers and other stakeholders should collaborate to design interventions to improve community pharmacists' dispensing and counseling practice. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100011&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Background: The availability of over-the-counter drugs (OTCs) has increased in Sweden since a re-regulation of the pharmacy market in 2009, through which non-pharmacy retailers became permitted to provide certain OTCs. Objective: To examine the adult general public's views on safety, purchasing and information channels, storage and disposal of OTCs in Sweden, three years after the re-regulation of the pharmacy market. Methods: A questionnaire study in 2012-13 in a stratified, random sample of all inhabitants in Sweden ≥ 18 years old. Results: Totally 8,302 people (42%) answered the questionnaire. Seven percent found OTCs completely harmless regardless of how they are being used, 18% felt they should be used only on health professionals' recommendation. Differences in how OTCs are perceived were however found with regards to respondents' country of birth, family type, educational level and income. The pharmacy was still the preferred OTC drug retailer by 83% of the respondents and preferred information source by 80% Reasons for preferred retailers were primarily due to out of habit (45%), counseling provided (35%), the product range (34%) and the confidence in staff (27%). Analgesics are the most common OTCs to have at home (90%). The bathroom cabinet is the primary site for storage (42%) and 16% throw their OTC leftovers in the trash. Conclusions: The study population does not consider OTCs as harmless regardless of how they are used, but on the other hand feels they should not be taken on health professionals' recommendation only. The pharmacy is still the preferred retailer and information source, and there is room for further improvement in the storage and disposal of OTCs. A return of OTC drug leftovers to the pharmacy should be further encouraged. Due to several limitations, great caution should however be observed when generalizing the results to the adult population of Sweden. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100012&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Objective: To analyze the link between the rank at the national pharmacy residency examination and the choice of pharmacy specialty for hospital residency-admitted French pharmacy students. Methods: Examination ranks as well as the pharmacy residency specialty to which residency candidates are finally admitted were collected for all students (n=1948) having successfully passed the national French pharmacy residency examination over the period 2013-2016. Students were categorized by their pharmacy specialty for residency, i.e., "Medical Biology" (n=591), "Hospital Pharmacy" (n=1175) and "Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research" (n=182), and medians of examination ranks as well as limit ranks (the rank of the last admitted postulant) by specialty were compared. Results: Examination ranks for pharmacy residency-admitted students were found to significantly differ according to the nature of the specialty in which students were finally admitted. "Medical Biology" has the lowest examination ranks (and appears thus as the most selective specialty), followed by "Hospital Pharmacy" and ended by "Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research", that has the highest examination ranks (and appears thus as the least selective specialty). Limit examination ranks were additionally shown to discriminate university hospitals in which residents were assigned. Conclusion: Specialty choice for hospital residency-admitted French pharmacy candidates is closely associated with their rank at the national pharmacy residency examination, which can be assumed as reflecting their academic level. By this way, an implicit hierarchy of French pharmacy residency specialties according to the academic level of postulants can likely be drawn. http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1885-642X2017000100013&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=es Abstract Systematic reviews and pairwise meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, at the intersection of clinical medicine, epidemiology and statistics, are positioned at the top of evidence-based practice hierarchy. These are important tools to base drugs approval, clinical protocols and guidelines formulation and for decision-making. However, this traditional technique only partially yield information that clinicians, patients and policy-makers need to make informed decisions, since it usually compares only two interventions at the time. In the market, regardless the clinical condition under evaluation, usually many interventions are available and few of them have been studied in head-to-head studies. This scenario precludes conclusions to be drawn from comparisons of all interventions profile (e.g. efficacy and safety). The recent development and introduction of a new technique – usually referred as network meta-analysis, indirect meta-analysis, multiple or mixed treatment comparisons – has allowed the estimation of metrics for all possible comparisons in the same model, simultaneously gathering direct and indirect evidence. Over the last years this statistical tool has matured as technique with models available for all types of raw data, producing different pooled effect measures, using both Frequentist and Bayesian frameworks, with different software packages. However, the conduction, report and interpretation of network meta-analysis still poses multiple challenges that should be carefully considered, especially because this technique inherits all assumptions from pairwise meta-analysis but with increased complexity. Thus, we aim to provide a basic explanation of network meta-analysis conduction, highlighting its risks and benefits for evidence-based practice, including information on statistical methods evolution, assumptions and steps for performing the analysis.