Patients' attitude toward dispensing pharmacies: questionnaire survey conducted August 15

In Japan, the separation rate of institutions prescribing and dispensing medications has tripled in 10 years, and reached 46.0% in 2002. Ever since the Japanese government promoted this separation in 1998, Osaka National Hospital (ONH) has maintained an out-of-hospital prescription rate of more than 90%. To learn patients' recognition of the separation, we conducted a questionnaire survey on a Bon holiday, one of the traditional holidays in Japan.

On August 15, 2001, we conducted a questionnaire survey concerning dispensing pharmacies that are closed on holidays. In-hospital pharmacists of ONH and pharmaceutical internship students asked outpatients who visited ONH on that day to participate in the survey.

406 out-of-hospital prescriptions were issued on that day, and 228 questionnaires were collected. In this survey, 53 patients (23.3%) did not know if their dispensing pharmacies were open or closed on that day.

Patients were not so concerned if their dispensing pharmacies were open or closed. We found that the information dispensing pharmacies provided their patients was not adequate. It seems necessary for hospitals and dispensing pharmacies to take more action in cooperatively informing patients of their holidays.