BACKGROUND: Provision of drug information has been identified as a key strategy to prevent adverse drug events; however, provision of drug information in face-to-face consultations between patients and health professionals is often suboptimal. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyze and describe utilization of a community pharmacy-operated national drug information call center. The special focus was on calls concerning prescription drugs. METHOD: Trained pharmacists (n=20) recorded data from all telephone calls made to the Helsinki University Pharmacy drug information call center over a 1-week period by using a structured data collection instrument. Data of this cross-sectional study were quantitatively content-analyzed to compute descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Data were recorded for 2196 calls, 56% of which were drug-related. Of the drug-related calls, 79% were related to prescription drugs. The majority (83%) of these calls were therapeutic or pharmaceutical inquiries, with 26% concerning costs and reimbursements, 14% interactions, 14% dosages, and 11% adverse effects. Nervous system drugs (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical [ATC] classification N), anti-infectives (J), and musculoskeletal drugs (M) accounted for 20%, 18%, and 13% of the calls, respectively. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) (9% of the calls), antidepressants (6%), and penicillin (5%) were the most often inquired about ATC-subgroups. A majority (82%) of the callers were estimated to be between 20 and 60 years of age. CONCLUSION: Consumers appear to have multiple unmet drug information needs. This may especially be the case for certain population groups, and in regard to nervous system drugs, anti-infectives and NSAID. Drug information call centers operated by community pharmacies could complement face-to-face information provided by health professionals.
BACKGROUND: Provision of drug information has been identified as a key strategy to prevent adverse drug events; however, provision of drug information in face-to-face consultations between patients and health professionals is often suboptimal. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyze and describe utilization of a community pharmacy-operated national drug information call center. The special focus was on calls concerning prescription drugs. METHOD: Trained pharmacists (n=20) recorded data from all telephone calls made to the Helsinki University Pharmacy drug information call center over a 1-week period by using a structured data collection instrument. Data of this cross-sectional study were quantitatively content-analyzed to compute descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Data were recorded for 2196 calls, 56% of which were drug-related. Of the drug-related calls, 79% were related to prescription drugs. The majority (83%) of these calls were therapeutic or pharmaceutical inquiries, with 26% concerning costs and reimbursements, 14% interactions, 14% dosages, and 11% adverse effects. Nervous system drugs (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical [ATC] classification N), anti-infectives (J), and musculoskeletal drugs (M) accounted for 20%, 18%, and 13% of the calls, respectively. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) (9% of the calls), antidepressants (6%), and penicillin (5%) were the most often inquired about ATC-subgroups. A majority (82%) of the callers were estimated to be between 20 and 60 years of age. CONCLUSION: Consumers appear to have multiple unmet drug information needs. This may especially be the case for certain population groups, and in regard to nervous system drugs, anti-infectives and NSAID. Drug information call centers operated by community pharmacies could complement face-to-face information provided by health professionals.
Authors: Ulla Närhi; Marika Pohjanoksa-Mäntylä; Anna Karjalainen; Johanna K Saari; Hannes Wahlroos; Marja S Airaksinen; Simon J Bell Journal: Pharm World Sci Date: 2008-09-13
Authors: S Elina Aaltonen; Niina P Laine; Daisy Volmer; Manjiri S Gharat; Ruta Muceniece; Anna Vitola; Veerle Foulon; Franciska A Desplenter; Marja S Airaksinen; Timothy F Chen; J Simon Bell Journal: Pharm Pract (Granada) Date: 2010-03-15
Authors: Ling Li; Rebecca Lake; Magdalena Z Raban; Mary Byrne; Maureen Robinson; Johanna Westbrook; Melissa T Baysari Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2017-03-14 Impact factor: 2.655