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Key summary points: Aim: To explore the association between medication use-related factors and quality of life in older hospitalised patients with polypharmacy. Findings: Hyperpolypharmacy, a high anticholinergic and sedative burden, presence of multiple prescribing omissions (based on START criteria), the use of opioids, antibiotics and benzodiazepines, and high medication complexity were associated with a lower quality of life. Message: Due to the association with quality of life, evaluating medication use-related factors, especially medication complexity as a novel factor, is important for hospitalised older patients with (hyper)polypharmacy. Purpose: To explore the association between medication use-related factors and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older hospitalised multimorbid patients with polypharmacy. Methods: This cross-sectional study used the intervention arm data of the OPERAM trial (hospitalised patients ≥ 70 years with polypharmacy). HRQoL was assessed using the visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) and the EQ-5D index score of the EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L). Lower or higher EQ-VAS/EQ-5D was based on the median of the study population. Medication use-related factors included hyperpolypharmacy (≥ 10 medications), anticholinergic and sedative burden, appropriateness of medication (STOPP/START criteria), high-risk medication for hospital (re)admission, medication complexity and adherence. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between medication use-related factors and HRQoL. Results: A total of 955 patients were included (mean age 79 years, 46% female, median EQ-VAS of 60, median EQ-5D of 0.60). Opioids use was associated with lower EQ-5D and EQ-VAS (aOR EQ-5D: 2.10; 95% CI 1.34–3.32, EQ-VAS: 1.59; 1.11–2.30). Hyperpolypharmacy (aOR 1.37; 1.05–1.80), antibiotics (aOR 1.64; 1.01–2.68) and high medication complexity (aOR 1.53; 1.10–2.15) were associated with lower EQ-VAS. A high anticholinergic and sedative burden (aOR 1.73; 1.11–2.69), presence of multiple prescribing omissions (aOR 1.94; 1.19–3.17) and benzodiazepine use (aOR 2.01; 1.22–3.35) were associated with lower EQ-5D. Especially in hyperpolypharmacy patients, high anticholinergic and sedative burden and medication complexity were associated with a lower HRQoL. Conclusion: Several medication use-related factors are significantly associated with a lower HRQoL in hospitalised older patients. Medication complexity is a novel factor, which should be considered when evaluating medication use of older patients with hyperpolypharmacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CombiConsultation is a consultation with the community pharmacist for patients with diabetes, COPD and/or cardiovascular disease (CVD), aligned with the annual or quarterly consultation with the practice nurse (PN) or general practitioner (GP). The consultation is focused on the personal health-related goals of the patient. To assess the number and types of personal health-related goals, drug-related problems (DRPs) and interventions identified by pharmacists during a CombiConsultation and to investigate which patients can benefit most from such consultation. Twenty-one Dutch community pharmacies and associated GP practices were included in the CombiConsultation study. CombiConsultations were performed, involving patients with diabetes, COPD and/or (at risk of) CVD. The pharmacists set health-related goals together with the patients and identified DRPs. The number and types of personal health-related goals, DRPs and interventions were analysed. Associations between patient characteristics and the identification of at least one DRP were analysed by multivariate regression analysis. In 834 patients (49% men, mean age: 70 years), 939 DRPs were identified, mostly (potential) side effects (33%), undertreatment (18%) and overtreatment (14%). In 71% of the patients, one or more DRPs were found, with a median of one DRP per patient. Pharmacists proposed 935 recommendations, of which 72% were implemented. DRPs were found more often in patients using a higher number of drugs for chronic conditions. A total of 425 personal health-related goals were set, of which 53% were (partially) attained. The CombiConsultation can be used as a compact health service contributing to safe and effective use of medication for patients with diabetes, COPD and/or (at risk of) CVD, also in patients under 65 or with less than 5 medications in use. The output of the CombiConsultation reflects its characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quality of the educational environment affects trainee performance and well-being in postgraduate healthcare education. In pharmacy practice the quality of the educational environment has not been extensively studied. Self-determination Theory can assist in understanding the underlying mechanisms. Objectives: In this study, the quality of the educational environment and its relationship with satisfaction and frustration of trainees' basic psychological needs and motivation were investigated in a Dutch community pharmacy postgraduate education programme. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, pharmacists specializing to become community pharmacists completed the Scan of Postgraduate Educational Environment Domains (SPEED), the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale for the Work Domain, and the Academic Motivation Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis followed by path analysis was used to analyse the relationships between the variables. Results: Out of 232 trainees, 205 responded (88%). Most trainees (82%) were positive about the quality of the educational environment. The resulting path model displayed a moderate to good fit. The perceived quality of the educational environment had a moderate positive association with basic psychological needs satisfaction (Factor loading = 0.40) and a similar negative association with basic psychological needs frustration (Factor loading = -0.47). Basic psychological needs frustration had a moderate association with an increased sense of internal and external pressures also known as controlled motivation (Factor loading = 0.31). Intrinsic motivation was not affected by the perceived quality of the educational environment. Conclusions: The educational environment was perceived as positive in most community pharmacies. However, having a less positive or a negative perception was associated with reduced satisfaction and increased frustration of trainees' basic needs for autonomy, compentence and relatedness. Moreover, basic psychological needs frustration was associated with an increased perception of controlled motivation. We recommend supporting supervisors in creating a positive educational environment in pharmacy practice, thereby reducing the risk of basic psychological needs frustration and increased controlled motivation amongst trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Community pharmacists are in the position to contribute to fall prevention, but this is not yet common practice.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a community pharmacy-based fall prevention service.Methods: A fall prevention service, consisting of a fall risk screening and assessment including a medication review, was implemented in pharmacies during three months. A preparative online training was provided to the pharmacy team to enhance adoption of the service. Included patients were aged ≥70 years, using ≥5 drugs of which ≥1 fall risk-increasing drug. The implementation process was quantitively assessed by registering medication adaptations, recommendations, and referrals. Changes in patient scores on the Short Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) and a fall prevention knowledge test were documented at one month follow-up. Implementation was qualitatively evaluated by conducting semi-structured interviews with pharmacists before and after the project, based on the consolidated framework of implementation research.Results: The service was implemented in nine pharmacies and 91 consultations were performed. Medication was adapted of 32 patients. Patients' short FES-I scores were significantly higher at follow-up (p = 0.047) and patients' knowledge test scores did not differ (p = 0.86). Pharmacists experienced the following barriers: lack of time, absence of staff, and limited multidisciplinary collaboration. Facilitators were training, motivated staff, patient engagement, and project scheduling.Conclusion: The service resulted in a substantial number of medication adaptations and lifestyle recommendations, but many barriers were identified that hamper the sustained implementation of the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical decision-making (CDM) is crucial in pharmacy practice, necessitating effective teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy education. This study aims to explore undergraduates and postgraduates' perceptions of how a new teaching model supports their CDM when addressing patient cases. Implemented in a full-day CDM course for pharmacy students and a half-day course for pharmacists in the Netherlands, the model, accompanied by a learning guide, facilitated CDM in patient cases. Eight courses were conducted between September 2022 to June 2023, followed by an online survey measuring participants' agreement on how the model supported their CDM, using a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, three open-ended questions were included to elicit learning outcomes and self-development opportunities. Of 175 invited participants, 159 (91%) completed the survey. Most agreed the teaching model supported their CDM, particularly in considering the patient's healthcare needs and context (96%), and exploring all available options (96%). Participants found the model provided a clear structure (97%), and fostered critical thinking (93%). The most frequently mentioned learning outcomes and self-development opportunities included collecting sufficient relevant information, maintaining a broad perspective, and decelerating the process to avoid premature closure. Participants agreed that the teaching model helped them to make clinical decisions. Both undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy education could possibly benefit from the teaching model's implementation in supporting pharmacy students and pharmacists conducting CDM in pharmacy practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical reasoning is considered a core competency for pharmacists, but there is a lack of conceptual clarity that complicates teaching and assessment. This scoping review was conducted to identify, map, and examine evidence on used cognitive processes and their conceptualization of clinical reasoning by pharmacists. In March 2021, seven databases were searched for relevant primary research studies. Included were studies that examined cognitive processes in pharmacists while addressing a clinical scenario in a pharmacy-related setting. Using descriptive analysis, study characteristics, conceptualizations, operationalizations, and key findings were mapped, summarized, and examined. Results were reported using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. From 2252 abstracts, 17 studies were included that examined clinical reasoning in the context of forming a diagnosis (n = 9) or determining medication appropriateness (n = 4). Most studies conceptualized clinical reasoning as a context-dependent cognitive process whereby pharmacists apply and integrate knowledge and clinical experience to interpret available clinical data. Different terms labelled pharmacists' reasoning that showed analytical and intuitive approaches to clinical scenarios, either separately or combined. Medication review studies reported a predominance of analytical reasoning. The majority of diagnosis-forming studies in primary care identified no distinct cognitive reasoning pattern when addressing self-care scenarios. This overview reflects a small but growing body of research on clinical reasoning by pharmacists. It is recommended that this competence be taught by explicating and reflecting on clinical reasoning as separate stage of the clinical decision-making process with transparent cognitive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace-based assessment of competencies is complex. In this study, the validity of summative performance evaluations (SPEs) made by supervisors in a two-year longitudinal supervisor-trainee relationship was investigated in a postgraduate community pharmacy specialization program in the Netherlands. The construct of competence was based on an adapted version of the 2005 Canadian Medical Education Directive for Specialists (CanMEDS) framework. The study had a case study design. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The year 1 and year 2 SPE scores of 342 trainees were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and generalizability theory. Semi-structured interviews were held with 15 supervisors and the program director to analyze the inferences they made and the impact of SPE scores on the decision-making process. A good model fit was found for the adapted CanMEDS based seven-factor construct. The reliability/precision of the SPE measurements could not be completely isolated, as every trainee was trained in one pharmacy and evaluated by one supervisor. Qualitative analysis revealed that supervisors varied in their standards for scoring competencies. Some supervisors were reluctant to fail trainees. The competency scores had little impact on the high-stakes decision made by the program director. The adapted CanMEDS competency framework provided a valid structure to measure competence. The reliability/precision of SPE measurements could not be established and the SPE measurements provided limited input for the decision-making process. Indications of a shadow assessment system in the pharmacies need further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Community pharmacy is shifting its focus from traditional, product-focused roles to the provision of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS). Previous research has indicated that community pharmacists predominantly want to devote their capacity to CPS. Ideally, services provided also address users' needs. The general public's preferences regarding the services provided by community pharmacists are currently less understood.Aim: This study investigates the general public's preferences and perceived importance of CPS versus convenience in community pharmacy practice.Method: An online survey of 1.500 members of the Dutch Health Care Consumer Panel containing questions regarding preferences for CPS and convenience was distributed. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis were performed to investigate the relationship between preferences and participant characteristics.Results: 516 panel members completed all questions regarding preferences and importance of the availability of services. The majority preferred convenience (68.2%) and a smaller proportion preferred CPS (27.7%). However, participants considered it important from a societal viewpoint that CPS is provided (45.0%). Participants who preferred CPS over convenience were generally older (p < 0.001) and used more medicines (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Convenience of community pharmacy services is most preferred by the general public. However, CPS is perceived as important, especially for elderly who use more medicines. Elderly patients who use more medicines more often rate CPS as more important than convenience. These findings suggest that community pharmacists should ensure that pharmacy logistics are organized efficiently before focusing on the provision of CPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been developed to support patients with their medication use, however to date few are widely used in pharmacy practice. Normalization of an intervention is essential to have a population impact, which is defined as 'the process of getting a new intervention into routine practice'.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the normalization potential of a complex mHealth intervention for adolescents with asthma (ADolescent Adherence Patient Tool; ADAPT) in community pharmacy practice.Methods: The Normalization Process Theory (NPT), a sociological action theory, was retrospectively applied to study the normalization potential of ADAPT. NPT explains factors that promote or hinder implementation, embedding, and integration of new interventions in clinical practice. Evaluation data (structured interviews and questionnaires) of 23 pharmacists who used the ADAPT intervention were used for this study.Results: Pharmacists understood the purpose of the ADAPT intervention and were prepared to undertake the necessary work of implementation. However changes at different levels are needed to support full normalization, such as changes in the intervention itself and changes in the pharmacist's work flow. The potential for normalization could also be enhanced by the use of product champions and appropriate reimbursement guidelines, to ensure uptake of the intervention by other pharmacists. Support from professional bodies for the use of mHealth could also promote normalization.Conclusions: Normalization of mHealth is a complex continuous process. The ADAPT intervention has the potential to be normalized in community pharmacy practice, but full normalization would require changes in both daily pharmacy practice and reimbursement models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have shown that a clinical medication review (CMR) reduces drug-related problems (DRPs), but the effects on clinical outcomes are less clear. Perhaps, CMRs in older persons could me more effective when they focus on patients' personal goals and health-related complaints.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether goal attainment scaling (GAS) is a useful tool for determining goals and monitoring their attainment during CMR.Methods: This study was an analysis based on data of the intervention group of the DREAMeR-study; a randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of CMR in primary care. 315 persons aged ≥70 years using ≥7 drugs were randomised to the intervention: a CMR focused on personal goals using GAS. Outcome measures were: percentage of persons with health-related goals, attainment of goals measured with GAS-scores after three and six months, type of health-related goals and implementation rates of recommendations for GAS-related DRPs and other DRPs.Results: A total of 406 health-related goals were set for 283 of 315 included persons (90%). Of the 350 evaluated goals (86%), 37% was attained after three months and 43% after six months. The goals 'reduce pain' (n = 66, 16%), 'improve mobility' (n = 57, 14%) and 'reduce number of pills' (n = 37, 9.1%) were most prevalent. The implementation rate of recommendations for GAS-related DRPs was 81% compared to 62% for not GAS-related DRPs (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Goal setting is important for prioritizing the most important problems during clinical medication review and Goal Attainment Scaling seems to be a useful tool for monitoring the attainment of these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is broad consensus that community pharmacists should focus on the provision of pharmaceutical care. Studies, however, have shown that community pharmacists still spend a considerable amount of time on traditional activities such as dispensing instead of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS). It is not clear whether community pharmacists prefer their current time-utilization or if they are willing to spend more time on CPS.Aim: The aim of this study was to identify how community pharmacists ideally would prioritize CPS compared to other daily activities.Methods: A cross-sectional study design with Q-methodology was used to identify different viewpoints regarding task prioritization. Community pharmacists were asked to rank a total of 48 daily activities. Data was collected online using FlashQ©. Q-sorts were analyzed by principal component factor analysis and varimax rotation using PQmethod 2.35.Results: In total, 166 community pharmacists participated in this study. Three distinguishing groups were found based on task prioritization explaining 59% of the total variance among respondents. All groups ranked the provision of CPS as important, in differing degrees. Group 1 ranked CPS as most important and was also the group that contained most participants. Group 2 and 3 ranked quality assurance as most important with CPS as second. Logistics and pharmacy management were ranked low by all groups.Discussion and Conclusion: Community pharmacists rank the provision of CPS as important. So factors, probably other than task prioritization, are keeping the pharmacist from focusing on CPS in daily practice. In other studies, time constraints are mostly mentioned as major barrier. Activities such as logistics and pharmacy management are given less priority and should be delegated to supporting staff members as much as possible, to enable pharmacists to focus their available time on activities they deem important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hospital discharge poses a significant threat to the continuity of medication therapy and frequently results in drug-related problems post-discharge. Therefore, establishing continuity of care by realizing optimal collaboration between hospital and community pharmacists is of utmost importance.Objective: To evaluate the collaboration between hospital and community pharmacists on addressing drug-related problems after hospital discharge.Methods: A prospective follow-up study was conducted between November 2013-December 2014 in a general hospital and all affiliated community pharmacies. Adult patients, admitted for ≥48 h to the neurology or pulmonology ward were eligible if they used ≥3 chronic prescription drugs and lived in the community pharmacies' service area. The HomeCoMe intervention program was comprised of medication verification and counseling at admission, medication screening by the hospital pharmacist during admission, outpatient pharmacy discharge consultation and support, and a community pharmacist home visit within one week post-discharge.Results: The mean age of the 152 included patients was 67.0 ± 12.6 years and 56.6% were female. A total of 745 DRPs (4.9 ± 2.2 DRPs per patient, range: 0-11) were identified with the need for additional "Education or information" (36.1%) and "Compliance" (16.4%) issues as most common DRP-types. This led to a total of 928 recommendations (6.1 ± 3.0 per patient, range: 1-19) to solve the DRP. The majority of DRPs were identified (83.6%, n = 623) and solved (91.6%, n = 682) by the community pharmacist during the home visit. Furthermore, 52.5% (n = 64) of the DRPs identified during hospitalization were solved during the post-discharge home visit.Conclusions: Collaboration between hospital and community pharmacists from hospital admission to readmission to primary care is crucial to establish continuity of care. A post-discharge community pharmacist home visit is a valuable addition to in-hospital transitional care to identify and solve drug-related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multidose drug dispensing (MDD) is used to help patients take their medicines appropriately. Little is known about drug regimen changes within these MDD systems and how they are effectuated by the community pharmacist. Manual immediate adjustments of the MDD system could introduce dispensing errors. MDD guidelines therefore recommend to effectuate drug regimen changes at the start of a new MDD system.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency, type, procedure followed, immediate necessity, and time taken to make MDD adjustments.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in eight community pharmacies in the Netherlands. All adjustments to MDD systems were systematically documented for 3 weeks by the community pharmacist.Results: Overall, 261 MDD adjustments involving 364 drug changes were documented for 250 patients: 127 (35%) drug changes involved the addition of a new drug, 124 (34%) a change in dosage, and 95 (26%) drug discontinuation. Of the MDD adjustments, 135 (52%) were effectuated immediately: 81 (31%) by adjusting the MDD system manually, 49 (19%) by temporarily dispensing the drug separately from the MDD system, and 5 (2%) by ordering a new MDD system. Pharmacists considered that 36 (27%) of the immediate MDD adjustments could have been deferred until the next MDD system was produced. Immediate adjustment took significantly longer than deferred adjustment (p < 0.001).Conclusions: This study shows that in patients using MDD systems, over half of the drug regimen changes are adjusted immediately. The necessity of these immediate changes should be critically evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The nature of community pharmacy is changing, shifting from the preparation and distribution of medicines to the provision of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS); however, often the provision of traditional services leaves little time for innovative services. This study investigated the time community pharmacists spend on the tasks and activities of daily practice and to what extent they are able to implement CPS-related services in daily practice.Methods: Self-reporting work sampling was used to register the activities of community pharmacists. A smartphone application, designed specifically for this purpose, alerted participants to register their current activity five times per working day for 6 weeks. Participants also completed an online survey about baseline characteristics.Results: Ninety-one Dutch community pharmacists provided work-sampling data (7848 registered activities). Overall, 51.5% of their time was spent on professional activities, 35.4% on semi-professional activities, and 13.1% on non-professional activities. The proportion of time devoted to CPS decreased during the workweek, whereas the time spent on traditional task increased.Discussion and Conclusion: This study shows it is feasible to collect work-sampling data using smartphone technology. Community pharmacists spent almost half of their time on semi-professional and non-professional activities, activities that could be delegated to other staff members. In practice, the transition to CPS is hampered by competing traditional tasks, which prevents community pharmacists from profiling themselves as pharmaceutical experts in daily practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Community pharmacists and their teams are easy accessible healthcare providers with an important role in primary care. As a consequence of the COVID-19 epidemic, (pharmaceutical) care and specifically communication between patients and healthcare providers is compromised.Objective: To describe the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the provision of pharmaceutical care in the Netherlands.Methods: A cross-sectional study with an online questionnaire was sent to community pharmacies in the Netherlands. The questionnaire covered the following main topics: changes in pharmacy setting and logistic procedures, communication about medication and baseline characteristics.Results: Pharmacies implemented hygiene measures and minimized direct patient-provider contact, e.g. by delivering medication at home to a wider range of patients (47.0%), temporarily not conducting medication reviews (55.8%) and only performing inhalation instructions via telephone (22.3%). Only a small number of pharmacies used telepharmacy, such as video calling during patient education and counseling. A total of 76.7% of the participants expressed concerns towards the pharmaceutical care for vulnerable patients.Conclusions: Our results show considerable impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on both logistic procedures and services regarding patient education and counseling. Pharmacies should be stimulated to implement telepharmacy or remote service to optimally support patients during the COVID-19 epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the context of medication use, pharmaceutical literacy skills are crucial for appropriate and safe use of medication. Recognition of patients with inadequate pharmaceutical literacy in daily pharmacy practice is difficult. No instrument is yet available to support pharmacists herein. The aim of this study was therefore to develop an interview guide for pharmacists to Recognize and Address Limited PHarmaceutical literacy (RALPH).Methods: The RALPH interview guide was constructed in three phases: (1) development including a literature search, expert group discussion, and feasibility test with 15 patients; (2) pilot-test with 421 patients throughout 30 community pharmacies, and (3) final test with 508 patients to optimize the interview guide.Results: The development phase resulted in a first interview guide comprising 15 questions: seven in the functional domain (understanding instructions), four in the communicative domain (finding and understanding medication information) and four in the critical domain (critically analyzing medication information). This version was pilot-tested in 30 pharmacies, with 147 patients during medication reviews and another 274 patients were interviewed while waiting to collect their medication. This test phase led to removal of questions that proved difficult to interpret and to rephrasing some questions. The second version including 11 questions was tested by 109 pharmacists trainees with 508 patients, resulting in the final RALPH interview guide comprising 10 questions, all directly linked to the patient's own medication: three in the functional, three in the communicative and four in the critical domain. Besides instructions on how to use the interview guide, recommendations are provided for pharmacists on how to support patients with limited pharmaceutical literacy skills.Conclusions: The practice-based RALPH interview guide supports pharmacists in recognizing patients with limited pharmaceutical literacy. With this insight, pharmacists can tailor their medication counseling to patients' pharmaceutical literacy level to better support patients in their medication use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with limited pharmaceutical literacy are at increased risk of drug-related problems. Recognizing these patients in daily practice is difficult. The Recognition and Addressing of Limited Pharmaceutical Literacy (RALPH) interview guide was developed as practical set of questions to recognize patients with limited pharmaceutical literacy in daily pharmacy practice.Objective: To compare agreement between pharmaceutical literacy measured with the RALPH guide and a validated general health literacy questionnaire. In addition, we provide insight into patients' pharmaceutical literacy using the RALPH interview guide.Methods: Structured face-to-face interviews with patients who visited a community pharmacy to fill a prescription for themselves were conducted. The interview included the RALPH guide as well as the Functional Communicative Critical Health Literacy (FCCHL) questionnaire to measure general health literacy. Functional, communicative and critical skills were measured and agreement between two methods was calculated.Results: Data were collected from 508 patients. Patients with limited pharmaceutical literacy, indicated by the RALPH questions, also had a lower general health literacy level according to FCCHL scores. Agreement between the RALPH guide and FCCHL questionnaire was moderate (∼60%) for the three health literacy domains. Most patients (>90%) had correct understanding of frequency and timing of medication use, but 25% did not understand warnings or precautions correctly. Finding understandable information (39%), assessing information applicability (50%) and reliability (64%) were mentioned as difficult by patients.Conclusion: Patients experienced difficulties with more complex skills, e.g. interpretation of warnings or precautions when using a medicine, finding and analyzing medication information. Whereas the FCCHL questionnaire is useful to assess general health literacy, the RALPH interview guide provides insight in the level of skills needed for good medication use and is more suitable for use in a medication specific context such as community pharmacy. Context specific assessment of skills is important to provide tailored pharmaceutical care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A non-dispensing pharmacist conducts clinical pharmacy services aimed at optimizing patients individual pharmacotherapy. Embedding a non-dispensing pharmacist in primary care practice enables collaboration, probably enhancing patient care. The degree of integration of non-dispensing pharmacists into multidisciplinary health care teams varies strongly between settings. The degree of integration may be a determinant for its success.Objectives: This study investigates how the degree of integration of a non-dispensing pharmacist impacts medication related health outcomes in primary care.Methods: In this literature review we searched two electronic databases and the reference list of published literature reviews for studies about clinical pharmacy services performed by non-dispensing pharmacists physically co-located in primary care practice. We assessed the degree of integration via key dimensions of integration based on the conceptual framework of Walshe and Smith. We included English language studies of any design that had a control group or baseline comparison published from 1966 to June 2016. Descriptive statistics were used to correlate the degree of integration to health outcomes. The analysis was stratified for disease-specific and patient-centered clinical pharmacy services.Results: Eighty-nine health outcomes in 60 comparative studies contributed to the analysis. The accumulated evidence from these studies shows no impact of the degree of integration of non-dispensing pharmacists on health outcomes. For disease specific clinical pharmacy services the percentage of improved health outcomes for none, partial and fully integrated NDPs is respectively 75%, 63% and 59%. For patient-centered clinical pharmacy services the percentage of improved health outcomes for none, partial and fully integrated NDPs is respectively 55%, 57% and 70%.Conclusions: Full integration adds value to patient-centered clinical pharmacy services, but not to disease-specific clinical pharmacy services. To obtain maximum benefits of clinical pharmacy services for patients with multiple medications and comorbidities, full integration of non-dispensing pharmacists should be promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of the study was to gain more insight into the attitudes of adolescents using medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods A cross-sectional study among adolescents (aged 12–18 years) who filled at least two prescriptions for ADHD medication in the preceding year was conducted. Adolescents were invited to fill in an online questionnaire containing questions on sociodemographics, health status, illness perceptions, medication adherence, and medication beliefs. Results We invited 1,200 adolescents of whom 181 adolescents (122 males, mean age 14.2 ± 1.7 years) completed the online questionnaire. They mostly used methylphenidate (n = 167; 92%) as a pharmacological treatment for ADHD. Half of the study population (n = 93; 51%) experienced side effects, such as decreased appetite and sleep problems. Most participants (n = 150; 83%) had an indifferent attitude (perceived low necessity and low concerns) toward their ADHD medication. More than half of the study population (n = 111; 61%) reported to be nonadherent based on the Medication Adherence Report Scale. The highest score of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire was on “treatment control,” suggesting that adolescents do think their medication is effective, despite their indifferent drug attitude. Conclusions Most adolescents using ADHD medication had an indifferent attitude toward their medication and reported low adherence rates. These findings should be taken into account when treating adolescents with ADHD; regular counseling and monitoring of the pharmacological treatment might be useful to optimize treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Severe asthma is characterized by difficulty to achieve disease control despite high-intensity treatment. However, prevalence figures of severe asthma are lacking, whereas longstanding estimates vary between 5% and 10% of all asthmatic patients. Knowing the exact prevalence of severe refractory asthma as opposed to difficult-to-control asthma is important for clinical decision making, drug development, and reimbursement policies by health authorities. Objective We sought to estimate the prevalence of severe refractory asthma as defined by the Innovative Medicine Initiative consensus. Methods Adult patients with a prescription for high-intensity treatment (high-dose inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β 2 -agonists or medium- to high-dose inhaled corticosteroids combined with oral corticosteroids and long-acting β 2 -agonists) were extracted from 65 Dutch pharmacy databases, representing 3% of the population (500,500 inhabitants). Questionnaires were sent to 5,002 patients, of which 2,312 were analyzed. The diagnosis of asthma and degree of asthma control were derived from questionnaires to identify patients with difficult-to-control asthma. Inhalation technique was assessed in a random sample of 60 adherent patients (prescription filling, ≥80%). Patients with difficult-to-control asthma, adherence to treatment, and a correct inhalation technique were qualified as having severe refractory asthma. Results were mirrored to the Dutch population. Results Of asthmatic adults, 3.6% (95% CI, 3.0% to 4.1%) qualified for a diagnosis of severe refractory asthma, representing 10.4 patients per 10,000 inhabitants. Conclusion The prevalence of severe refractory asthma might be lower than estimated by expert opinion. This implies that currently recognized severe asthma subphenotypes could meet the criteria of rare diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background & study aims: Adjuvant endocrine therapy effectively prevents recurrence and progression of estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer. However, studies reveal substantial non-adherence. The objective was therefore to identify the nature of the experiences and beliefs of women treated with endocrine therapy in an attempt to find potential determinants of non-adherence. Method: Online Focus Groups (OFGs) and individual interviews were conducted with 37 women who were treated with endocrine therapy. Sixty-three statements derived from the OFGs and 11 belief items from the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) were used in a Q-sorting task conducted with 14 of the women. The quantitative Q-sorting data were statistically analyzed with Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Results: A six cluster solution was revealed that included the clusters ‘information’, ‘efficacy’, ‘tenacity’, ‘coping’, ‘side effects’ and ‘usage’. Women's own experiences and perceptions were not clearly delineated from the beliefs measured with the BMQ. However, women judged their own experiences and perceptions with regard to endocrine therapy as more relevant for adherence than the BMQ beliefs. Conclusion: In order to understand and to improve women's adherence to endocrine therapy, women's own perceptions and experiences about endocrine therapy should be targeted in addition to common beliefs that apply to a wide range of medicines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Community pharmacy is in the middle of a paradigm shift from provider of medication to provider of care around medication. Much of this care involves giving information to patients so as to maximize pharmacotherapy outcomes; however, this is not necessarily recognized by patients. The initiation of chronic medication for diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), arouses much uncertainty in patients, and it is not certain how information provision roles by pharmacists are viewed. Objectives: To obtain insight in the information needs of patients who have recently started treatment with oral antidiabetics and to investigate the opportunities for pharmacy regarding the provision of information for patients with T2DM. Methods: A qualitative study with both semistructured telephone interviews and patient focus group discussions was conducted. Individual patients'' comments were categorized and used in a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis exploring the role of the community pharmacist in the field of providing information at the moment of initiation of T2DM oral medication. Results: From interviews with 42 patients and 2 focus groups, discussions emerged that the general practitioner (GP) does not fulfill all information needs. For the pharmacist, there is an opportunity, as patients feel a need for information and like to discuss drug-related issues. SWOT analysis revealed main strengths of the pharmacy as “expertise” and “service and kindness.” Together with more cooperation with GPs and nurse practitioners, these strengths give the pharmacist the opportunity to further develop pharmaceutical care activities. Conclusion: Pharmacists are challenged to increase their visibility as health care provider while keeping logistic service on a high level and improving cooperation with other health care providers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Background: There is a general agreement on the importance of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This type of information is becoming increasingly important for the value assessment of health technology assessment agencies in evaluating the benefits of new health technologies, including medicines. However, HRQoL data are often limited, and additional sources that provide this type of information may be helpful.Objective: We aim to identify the HRQoL topics important to patients with melanoma based on web-based discussions on public social media forums.Methods: We identified 3 public web-based forums from the United States and the United Kingdom, namely the Melanoma Patient Information Page, the Melanoma International Forum, and MacMillan. Their posts were randomly selected and coded using qualitative methods until saturation was reached.Results: Of the posts assessed, 36.7% (150/409) of posts on Melanoma International Forum, 45.1% (198/439) on MacMillan, and 35.4% (128/362) on Melanoma Patient Information Page focused on HRQoL. The 2 themes most frequently mentioned were mental health and (un)certainty. The themes were constructed based on underlying and more detailed codes. Codes related to fear, worry and anxiety, uncertainty, and unfavorable effects were the most-often discussed ones.Conclusions: Web-based forums are a valuable source for identifying relevant HRQoL aspects in patients with a given disease. These aspects could be cross-referenced with existing tools and they might improve the content validity of patient-reported outcome measures, including HRQoL questionnaires. In addition, web-based forums may provide health technology assessment agencies with a more holistic understanding of the external aspects affecting patient HRQoL. These aspects might support the value assessment of new health technologies and could therefore help inform topic prioritization as well as the scoping phase before any value assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]