Cathrin J Vogt, Annika Wiegand, Kire Trajkov, Michael Metzner, Viktoria S Wurmbach, Anja Braem, Hanna M Seidling
{"title":"Attitudes and expectations toward medication review among community pharmacy customers in Germany: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Cathrin J Vogt, Annika Wiegand, Kire Trajkov, Michael Metzner, Viktoria S Wurmbach, Anja Braem, Hanna M Seidling","doi":"10.1080/20523211.2025.2490572","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Since knowledge about customers' attitudes towards medication reviews in community pharmacies is limited, the objective of this study was to gain insight into customers' perceived facilitators and barriers to participate in this service, with the aim of identifying areas to facilitate the implementation process.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In spring 2024, we conducted a prospective, questionnaire-based survey for a total of 58 days. All customers (≥18 years) in 3 pharmacies in Germany, regardless of whether they were eligible for medication reviews or not, were approached during their pharmacy visit in person and invited to complete the tablet-based questionnaire on-site. The pilot-tested, multilingual questionnaire covered socio-demographic-data and customers' attitudes towards medication reviews. Potential benefits of medication reviews were rated regarding their perceived importance on a 3-point-Likert-scale (0 = not important, 1 = important, 2 = very important). A mean score was calculated for each benefit. Data were analyzed descriptively and binary logistic regression analyses were applied to explore associations of selected predictors with awareness of medication reviews or expected benefits.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 1561 pharmacy customers participated, with 59.2% (interquartile range (IQR): 17.9%) of patients being approached daily. Awareness of medication reviews was low (18.0%, <i>n</i> = 281/1561), whereby female participants (odds ratio (OR): 1.211 (0.914-1.603)) and those who request pharmacies' consultation services (OR: 1.020 (1.012-1.029) were more likely to know it. Key expectations towards benefits included better knowledge of medicines (mean score: 1.4 ± 0.7), fewer side-effects (1.4 ± 0.7) and fewer problems with their medication (e.g. interactions; 1.3 ± 0.7). No difference was found for prior awareness of medication reviews in terms of benefit expectations.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Gaining knowledge and improving medication safety through a medication review is most valuable to customers. By clearly explaining the purpose and expected benefits of medication reviews, the outreach and impact could be increased.<b>Trial registration:</b> German Clinical Trials Register identifier: DRKS00032446.</p>","PeriodicalId":16740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice","volume":"18 1","pages":"2490572"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12035941/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20523211.2025.2490572","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Since knowledge about customers' attitudes towards medication reviews in community pharmacies is limited, the objective of this study was to gain insight into customers' perceived facilitators and barriers to participate in this service, with the aim of identifying areas to facilitate the implementation process.
Methods: In spring 2024, we conducted a prospective, questionnaire-based survey for a total of 58 days. All customers (≥18 years) in 3 pharmacies in Germany, regardless of whether they were eligible for medication reviews or not, were approached during their pharmacy visit in person and invited to complete the tablet-based questionnaire on-site. The pilot-tested, multilingual questionnaire covered socio-demographic-data and customers' attitudes towards medication reviews. Potential benefits of medication reviews were rated regarding their perceived importance on a 3-point-Likert-scale (0 = not important, 1 = important, 2 = very important). A mean score was calculated for each benefit. Data were analyzed descriptively and binary logistic regression analyses were applied to explore associations of selected predictors with awareness of medication reviews or expected benefits.
Results: A total of 1561 pharmacy customers participated, with 59.2% (interquartile range (IQR): 17.9%) of patients being approached daily. Awareness of medication reviews was low (18.0%, n = 281/1561), whereby female participants (odds ratio (OR): 1.211 (0.914-1.603)) and those who request pharmacies' consultation services (OR: 1.020 (1.012-1.029) were more likely to know it. Key expectations towards benefits included better knowledge of medicines (mean score: 1.4 ± 0.7), fewer side-effects (1.4 ± 0.7) and fewer problems with their medication (e.g. interactions; 1.3 ± 0.7). No difference was found for prior awareness of medication reviews in terms of benefit expectations.
Conclusion: Gaining knowledge and improving medication safety through a medication review is most valuable to customers. By clearly explaining the purpose and expected benefits of medication reviews, the outreach and impact could be increased.Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register identifier: DRKS00032446.