Darija Kuruc Poje1, Domagoj Kifer2, Isabelle Huys3, Joao Miranda4,5, Helena Jenzer6, Nenad Miljković7, Torsten Hoppe-Tichy8, Marcin Bochniarz9, Roberto Frontini10, David G Schwartz11, Vesna Vujić-Aleksić12, Lana Nežić12, Eleni Rinaki13, Leonidas Tzimis13, Kim Green8, Jelena Jovanić12, Bojana Carić12, Danijela Mandić12, Katarina Vilić14, Tomasz Bochenek15, Vesna Bačić Vrca16, Srećko Marušić17. 1. Pharmacy Department, General hospital "dr. Tomislav Bardek", Koprivnica, Croatia. darija_kuruc@yahoo.com. 2. Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. 3. Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 4. Departamento de Tecnologias, Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão, Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, Portalegre, Portugal. 5. CERENA - Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal. 6. Berner Fachhochschule Health Professions Ernährung und Diätetik, Zürich, Switzerland. 7. Pharmacy Department, Institute of Orthopaedic Surgery "Banjica", Belgrade, Serbia. 8. Pharmacy Department, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany. 9. Specialist Hospital Brzozów, Podkarpackie Oncological Center, Brzozów, Poland. 10. European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP), Brussels, Belgium. 11. School of Business, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. 12. Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Greece. 13. Hospital pharmacy, Chania General Hospital "Saint George", Crete, Chania, Greece. 14. Pharmacy Department, General hospital "dr. Tomislav Bardek", Koprivnica, Croatia. 15. Department of Drug Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland. 16. Pharmacy Department, Clinical hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia. 17. Endocrinology Department, Clinical hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is known that drug shortages represent a major challenge for all stakeholders involved in the process, but there is little evidence regarding insights into patients' awareness and perspectives. This study aimed to investigate the patients-perceived drug shortages experience and their view on outcomes in different European hospital settings. Furthermore, we wanted to explore information preferences on drug shortages. METHODS: A retrospective, cross sectional, a mixed method study was conducted in six European hospital settings. One hospital (H) from each of this country agreed to participate: Bosnia and Herzegovina (H-BiH), Croatia (H-CR), Germany (H-GE), Greece (H-GR), Serbia (H-SE) and Poland (H-PO). Recruitment and data collection was conducted over 27 months from November 2017 until January 2020. Overall, we surveyed 607 patients which completed paper-based questionnaire. Questions related to: general information (demographic data), basic knowledge on drug shortages, drug shortages experienced during hospitalization and information preferences on drug shortage. Differences between hospital settings were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. For more complex contingency tables, Monte Carlo simulations (N = 2000) were applied for Fisher's test. Post-hoc hospital-wise analyses were performed using Fisher's exact tests. False discovery rate was controlled using the Bonferroni method. Analyses were performed using R: a language and environment for statistical computing (v 3.6.3). RESULTS: 6 % of patients reported experiences with drug shortages while hospitalized which led to a deterioration of their health. The majority of affected patients were hospitalized at hematology and/or oncology wards in H-BiH, H-PO and H-GE. H-BiH had the highest number of affected patients (18.1 %, N = 19/105, p < 0.001) while the fewest patients were in H-SE (1 %, N = 1/100, p = 0.001). In addition, 82.5 %, (N = 501/607) of respondents wanted to be informed of alternative treatment options if there was a drug shortage without a generic substitute available. Majority of these patients (66.4 %, N = 386/501) prefer to be informed by a healthcare professional. CONCLUSIONS: Although drug shortages led to serious medical consequences, our findings show that most of the patients did not perceive shortages as a problem. One possible interpretation is that good hospital management practices by healthcare professionals helped to mitigate the perceived impact of shortages. Our study highlights the importance of a good communication especially between patients and healthcare professionals in whom our patients have the greatest trust.
BACKGROUND: It is known that drug shortages represent a major challenge for all stakeholders involved in the process, but there is little evidence regarding insights into patients' awareness and perspectives. This study aimed to investigate the patients-perceived drug shortages experience and their view on outcomes in different European hospital settings. Furthermore, we wanted to explore information preferences on drug shortages. METHODS: A retrospective, cross sectional, a mixed method study was conducted in six European hospital settings. One hospital (H) from each of this country agreed to participate: Bosnia and Herzegovina (H-BiH), Croatia (H-CR), Germany (H-GE), Greece (H-GR), Serbia (H-SE) and Poland (H-PO). Recruitment and data collection was conducted over 27 months from November 2017 until January 2020. Overall, we surveyed 607 patients which completed paper-based questionnaire. Questions related to: general information (demographic data), basic knowledge on drug shortages, drug shortages experienced during hospitalization and information preferences on drug shortage. Differences between hospital settings were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. For more complex contingency tables, Monte Carlo simulations (N = 2000) were applied for Fisher's test. Post-hoc hospital-wise analyses were performed using Fisher's exact tests. False discovery rate was controlled using the Bonferroni method. Analyses were performed using R: a language and environment for statistical computing (v 3.6.3). RESULTS: 6 % of patients reported experiences with drug shortages while hospitalized which led to a deterioration of their health. The majority of affected patients were hospitalized at hematology and/or oncology wards in H-BiH, H-PO and H-GE. H-BiH had the highest number of affected patients (18.1 %, N = 19/105, p < 0.001) while the fewest patients were in H-SE (1 %, N = 1/100, p = 0.001). In addition, 82.5 %, (N = 501/607) of respondents wanted to be informed of alternative treatment options if there was a drug shortage without a generic substitute available. Majority of these patients (66.4 %, N = 386/501) prefer to be informed by a healthcare professional. CONCLUSIONS: Although drug shortages led to serious medical consequences, our findings show that most of the patients did not perceive shortages as a problem. One possible interpretation is that good hospital management practices by healthcare professionals helped to mitigate the perceived impact of shortages. Our study highlights the importance of a good communication especially between patients and healthcare professionals in whom our patients have the greatest trust.
Authors: Tomasz Bochenek; Vafa Abilova; Ali Alkan; Bogdan Asanin; Iñigo de Miguel Beriain; Zeljka Besovic; Patricia Vella Bonanno; Anna Bucsics; Michal Davidescu; Elfi De Weerdt; Natasa Duborija-Kovacevic; Jurij Fürst; Mina Gaga; Elma Gailīte; Jolanta Gulbinovič; Emre U Gürpınar; Balázs Hankó; Vincent Hargaden; Tor A Hotvedt; Iris Hoxha; Isabelle Huys; Andras Inotai; Arianit Jakupi; Helena Jenzer; Roberta Joppi; Ott Laius; Marie-Camille Lenormand; Despina Makridaki; Admir Malaj; Kertu Margus; Vanda Marković-Peković; Nenad Miljković; João L de Miranda; Stanislav Primožič; Dragana Rajinac; David G Schwartz; Robin Šebesta; Steven Simoens; Juraj Slaby; Ljiljana Sović-Brkičić; Tomas Tesar; Leonidas Tzimis; Ewa Warmińska; Brian Godman Journal: Front Pharmacol Date: 2018-01-18 Impact factor: 5.810
Authors: Emily Chen; Susan Goold; Sam Harrison; Iman Ali; Ibtihal Makki; Stanley S Kent; Andrew G Shuman Journal: PLoS One Date: 2021-04-23 Impact factor: 3.240