Pharmacist-patient communication on use of antidepressants: a simulated patient study in community pharmacy

Effective communication between community pharmacists and patients, particularly with a patient-centered approach, is important to address patients' concerns relating to antidepressant medication use. However, few studies have investigated community pharmacists' communication behaviors in depression care.

To characterize community pharmacist-patient interactions during consultations involving use of antidepressants.

Twenty community pharmacists received 3 simulated patient visits involving issues related to the use of antidepressants: 1) patient receiving a first-time antidepressant prescription; 2) patient perceiving lack of efficacy of antidepressants after 2 weeks of treatment, and 3) patient intending to discontinue treatment prematurely. All 60 encounters were audio-recorded and analyzed using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS), a quantitative coding system that characterizes communication behaviors through discrete categories. A patient-centeredness score was calculated for each encounter.

The majority of pharmacist communication was biomedical in nature (50.7%), and focused on providing therapeutic information and advice on the antidepressant regimen. In contrast, only 5.4% of pharmacist communication was related to lifestyle/psychosocial exchanges. There were also few instances of emotional rapport-building behaviors (8.6%) or information gathering (6.6%). Patient-centered scores were highest in the scenario involving a first-time antidepressant user, as compared to other scenarios involving issues with continued therapy.

Community pharmacists appeared to adopt a "medication-centered" approach when counseling on antidepressant issues. There is scope for improvement in patient-centered communication behaviors, particularly lifestyle/psychosocial discussions, facilitating patient participation, and emotional rapport-building. The RIAS appears suited to characterize brief consultations in community pharmacies and can provide a framework in guiding communication training efforts. Further research is needed to assess the impact of pharmacist communication behaviors on patient care outcomes.