Anna Gołda, Justyna Dymek, Wioletta Polak, Aleksandra Uram, Effiom Uman-Ntuk, Agnieszka Skowron

An assessment of counseling quality provided by community pharmacies to patients during expedition of pseudoephedrine
2019-04-29

The study was designed to investigate the quality of pharmaceutical counseling accompanying the expedition of pseudoephedrine. Method: the “mystery patient” study carried out in 142 community pharmacies in Poland. The study was conducted using two scenarios and a check-list. The scenario I: drug for child, II: 75-year-old man. In both situations, the pharmacy staff should discourage the use of the drug. The checklists were completed after leaving the pharmacy. The data were analyzed collectively. It was assessed whether the pharmacists/ technicians identify the drug user and/or exclude contraindications. Results: 142 consultations were analyzed (I n=72, II n=70). Only 24 out of 142 pharmacists/technicians identified the patient. Scenario I: 21 pharmacists did not ask any questions. Scenario II: only 22% pharmacists/technicians informed that the drug is for the “elderly person” determined his age, 50% of consultants did not ask about diseases/other medicines used by him. Conclusions: It is necessary to educate pharmacists about conducting interviews and introducing algorithms for the expedition of OTC drugs.

Keywords: pharmacist counseling, community pharmacy, pseudoephedrine, self-treatment, mystery patient

© Farm Pol, 2019, 75(3): 111–118