Related Experiment Videos
Dispensing glucose test materials in Dutch community pharmacies
Michiel J Storimans1, Herre Talsma, Olaf H Klungel
1Department of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy, Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.j.storimans@pharm.uu.nl
Pharmacy World & Science : PWS
|March 17, 2004
Summary
Dutch community pharmacies dispense relatively few glucose test strips to diabetic patients, with significant variations between pharmacies. Further research is needed to understand dispensing determinants.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacoeconomics
- Diabetes Management
- Community Pharmacy Practice
Background:
- Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is crucial for diabetes management.
- Understanding equipment dispensing patterns in community pharmacies is essential for optimizing patient care.
- Previous data on SMBG equipment dispensing in Dutch community pharmacies is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the proportion of diabetic patients receiving self-monitoring equipment for glucose testing from Dutch community pharmacies.
- To analyze dispensing patterns of glucose meters and test strips.
Main Methods:
- Utilized pharmacy dispensing records from the PHARMO-Record Linkage System (1991-1998).
- Included patients with at least two prescriptions for insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents.
- Collected data on patient demographics, antidiabetic drug use, and SMBG equipment; determined diabetes type for incident users.
Main Results:
- The study included 11,358 diabetic patients across 29 pharmacies.
- An average of 30.1% of patients per pharmacy received test strips at least once.
- Test strip dispensing was significantly higher for type 1 diabetes patients (54%) compared to type 2 (17%).
Conclusions:
- Dutch community pharmacies dispense fewer glucose testing materials compared to international benchmarks.
- Considerable disparities exist in test strip dispensing rates among pharmacies.
- Further investigation is required to identify factors influencing test strip use at patient and pharmacy levels.