Pharmaceutical Care Services in Pharmacy Practice II

A special issue of Pharmacy (ISSN 2226-4787). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacy Practice and Practice-Based Research".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 May 2024 | Viewed by 1245

Special Issue Editors

Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: pharmaceutical care; medication management; pharmacy services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: medication management; health care; pharmaceutical care; pharmacy services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Medicines are among the most common medical interventions for the treatment, prevention, and therapy of chronic diseases. Additionally, a continuous increase in the prevalence of chronic medical conditions is expected alongside the accompanying polypharmacy. This scenario renders chronic patients at an increased risk of experiencing drug therapy problems, hence adding substantial costs to the health care system and exceeding the amount spent on the medications themselves. Thus, to ensure patients’ optimal medication use and improve their clinical outcomes, comprehensive and systematic management of medications is deemed crucial. In the last few decades, pharmacists have played a crucial role in the medication management through provision of various pharmaceutical services. Pharmacy services provided by trained pharmacists can bridge this gap by increasing rational drug use, improving the prescribing of medicines, and reducing the unnecessary and often harmful use of medications and the resulting complications. In the era of aging populations, polypharmacy, multiple chronic conditions, complex and decreasingly manageable therapy regimens, pharmaceutical services (e.g., Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) services) are especially important for chronic elderly patients taking five or more medicines, often potentially inappropriate ones, who are at an increased risk of experiencing medication errors, ADEs, duplications of therapy and detrimental interactions, and who often fail to reach therapy goals.

We invite you to share your research in relation to the role of pharmaceutical care practitioner providing medication management in various clinical environments (community pharmacy, hospital, primary care-based CMM services). Manuscripts in the form of articles, reviews, meta-analyses, commentaries, and opinion pieces will be considered and accepted for publication. We invite research papers that are both qualitative and quantitative in nature. We hope this Special Issue will inspire pharmacists and researchers to share their own practices and adopt new approaches and innovate to make improvements in health care provision.

Dr. Iva Mucalo
Dr. Andrea Brajkovic
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmacy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pharmaceutical care
  • medication management
  • comprehensive medication management services
  • pharmacy services
  • primary care
  • drug therapy problems
  • potentially inappropriate medicines
  • polypharmacy
  • clinical outcomes

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 800 KiB  
Article
Prevalence and Determinants of Self-Medication Practices among Cardiovascular Patients from Béja, North West Tunisia: A Community-Pharmacy-Based Survey
by Maria Suciu, Lavinia Vlaia, Eya Boujneh, Liana Suciu, Valentina Oana Buda, Narcisa Jianu, Vicențiu Vlaia and Carmen Cristescu
Pharmacy 2024, 12(2), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy12020068 - 12 Apr 2024
Viewed by 487
Abstract
In Tunisia, self-medication is a common practice, and there is a continual rise in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Given the lack of data on the self-medication practices (SMPs) among cardiovascular patients in this area, the present study aimed to identify the prevalence [...] Read more.
In Tunisia, self-medication is a common practice, and there is a continual rise in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Given the lack of data on the self-medication practices (SMPs) among cardiovascular patients in this area, the present study aimed to identify the prevalence and determinants of SMPs among cardiovascular patients in the city of Béja. A community-pharmacy-based survey was conducted among selected cardiovascular patients in Béja, Tunisia, from May 2021 to June 2021. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire provided by pharmacists during in-person surveys with patients. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, while Fisher’s exact test was used for categorical variables, with the significance level set at p < 0.05. The frequency of self-medication among the 150 respondents was 96%; 70.14% of participants reported that the primary reason why people engage in self-medication is the existence of an old prescription. The most prevalent conditions leading patients to self-medicate were headaches (100%), fever (83.33%), toothache (65.97%), and dry cough (47.92%). The most frequently self-administered drugs were paracetamol (100%), antibiotics (56.94%), and antitussives (47.92%). The results of our study indicate that SMPs among Tunisian cardiovascular patients have a high prevalence. With this in mind, healthcare practitioners should ask their patients about their self-medication practices and advise cardiovascular patients about the risks and benefits associated with this practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceutical Care Services in Pharmacy Practice II)
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12 pages, 463 KiB  
Article
Recognition of Community Pharmacists’ Behaviors Related to Information Sharing: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Ryota Kumaki, Chika Kiyozuka, Mika Naganuma, Satoshi Yuge, Ryota Tsukioka, Hidehiko Sakurai and Keiko Kishimoto
Pharmacy 2024, 12(2), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy12020063 - 06 Apr 2024
Viewed by 517
Abstract
With the recent shift in community pharmacist services toward in-person services and the growing need for centralized and continuous medication management/monitoring, pharmacist–patient information sharing is crucial. This study investigated the pharmacist–patient gap in the recognition of pharmacists’ behaviors regarding information sharing and assessed [...] Read more.
With the recent shift in community pharmacist services toward in-person services and the growing need for centralized and continuous medication management/monitoring, pharmacist–patient information sharing is crucial. This study investigated the pharmacist–patient gap in the recognition of pharmacists’ behaviors regarding information sharing and assessed the potential impact of such recognition on patient trust and willingness to self-disclose. This cross-sectional study included 600 patients (aged 21–85 years) using pharmacy services (surveyed online in December 2020) and 591 community pharmacists with ≥1 year of experience (surveyed from September to November 2021). Both groups responded to items on the recognition of pharmacists’ behaviors regarding information sharing. There were patient-specific items on trust in community pharmacists and willingness to self-disclose. For all items on the recognition of pharmacists’ behaviors, patients’ scores were significantly lower (4–5) than pharmacists’ own scores (≥5), revealing a notable perception gap. Patients’ recognition had a positive, direct effect on trust and willingness, and trust had a positive, direct effect on willingness. Patients’ recognition and trust positively influenced their willingness to self-disclose. Pharmacist communication with clear intent is important to bridge the gaps in pharmacist–patient recognition and foster effective patient–pharmacist relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pharmaceutical Care Services in Pharmacy Practice II)
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