Survey of Pharmacist-Led Medication Guidance for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Japan

Introduction: In pharmacotherapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), good medication adherence is necessary to control the condition. However, some patients show poor adherence. Pharmacists need to provide appropriate medication guidance to improve medication adherence. Community pharmacists often have to provide medication guidance in case of insufficient patient information because of varying affiliations. Therefore, to help improve medication adherence in patients with IBD and establish cooperation between community and hospital pharmacies, we investigated the awareness of IBD among pharmacists and the actual status of pharmacist-led medication guidance for patients with IBD. Methods: This study comprised a knowledge test for IBD and a survey of medication guidance for IBD in the form of questionnaires, which were administered to pharmacists using web forms. Results: Community pharmacy affiliation (P < 0.01) and having no experience in medication guidance for IBD (P < 0.01) contributed to low scores in the IBD knowledge test. There was a difference in the correct answer rate for interactions or screening tests prior to medication administration between community and hospital pharmacists. Medication guidance consultations involving residual drug adjustment (P < 0.01), confirmation of symptoms (P < 0.01), prescription from other hospitals (P = 0.04), therapeutic effects (P = 0.04), and confirmation of medication adherence were more common among community pharmacists than among hospital pharmacists. Cooperation between community and hospital pharmacies was most commonly achieved through tracing reports or personal medication handbooks. Conclusion: Improving pharmacists’ awareness of IBD and sharing information is important to facilitate cooperation between community and hospital pharmacists to improve medication adherence.