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[An evaluation of the information for the patient in pharmacies]
M C Agirre Lekue1, J del Arco Ortiz de Zarate, B García de Vicuña Landa
1Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Bizkaia.
Objective:
To study the nature of the information that is supplied by pharmacies in Bizkaia to their patients and the factors impinging on this information.
Design:
Crossover study of a sample of users of pharmacies. SITE. The research was done in 10 representative community pharmacies in the province of Bizkaia, included in which were rural and urban pharmacies.
Patients:
19,875 patients who used these pharmacies during the month of the study (May, 1991).
Interventions:
The information given the patient by the pharmacist was analyzed, as to whether the request came from the patient him/herself or not and as to the subject matter of this information.
Main Measurements And Results:
The pharmacist gave information to 4,162 of the 19,875 people observed, i.e. 1 in every 5 patients. More information was exchanged as a result of patients' request (69.17% of all the information given) than the pharmacist's volunteering it (30.38%). These figures constituted 14.48% and 6.45% respectively of the total number of people using the pharmacies during this month. The greatest number of requests for information by patients was concerning illnesses and their treatment: 22.4% of all the information.
Conclusions:
Information is given in pharmacies concerning health questions. However a mechanism needs to be found so that this information is of sufficient scope to contribute towards greater efficiency of treatment and health programmes.