Pharmaceutical care for patients with skin diseases: a campaign year at Swedish pharmacies

A pharmaceutical care programme for pharmacy customers/patients with skin disorders was carried out at all Swedish pharmacies in 1993 (Skin Year). The objective of the campaign was to increase awareness, compliance and appropriateness of the treatment of skin diseases in patients attending pharmacies. The campaign was carried out primarily at pharmacies and in close contact with other health-care professionals. A variety of promotional material was produced and made available to the pharmacies. The activities were primarily directed towards pharmacy customers but also towards the staff of local health-care centres. To avoid large-scale and costly population surveys in the national evaluation of the Skin Year campaign, evaluation was carried out indirectly by following four disease groups and monitoring the influence that the campaign may have had on the use of medicines by patients with those disorders. The groups chosen were dry skin, eczema, athlete's foot and acne. There was a substantial increase in the use of medication for skin disorders in the campaign year 1993 and in 1994. If it is assumed that the level of drug use is a reflection of the level of treatment it can be concluded that treatment of the four diseases increased substantially, indirectly demonstrating 'increased awareness, compliance and appropriateness of treatment' as stated in the objectives. It is estimated that the campaign may have reduced the number of physician consultations for skin problems and that this has led to a cost reduction of at least SK100 million (equivalent to $15 million) or 5-10% of the health-care costs for skin disorders. Comparable data on patient outcome as a result of the campaign are not available.