The objective was to identify the main perceived barriers to compliance and to investigate pharmacists’ opinions regarding the routine use of a cardiovascular Cyclopamine polypill. Methods The setting was community pharmacies in the metropolitan and greater areas of New South Wales, Australia. Structured questionnaires were administered to a random sample of community
pharmacists and peer-to-peer, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sub-sample. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS V16.0 and interviews were analysed thematically. Key findings Questionnaires were completed by 72 of the 250 pharmacists invited to participate. The major barrier to cardiovascular medication compliance identified by respondents was polypharmacy. Other barriers included patient disinterest, time constraints and costs. Most pharmacists agreed that a cardiovascular polypill could be one potential solution to poor compliance by Estrogen antagonist simplifying the treatment regimen (73.6% agreed) and reducing patient costs (79.2% agreed). Inability to tailor treatment and to ascribe side effects was among some of the identified concerns. Conclusion The use of a cardiovascular polypill as a means of increasing patient compliance with long-term cardiovascular preventive therapies is seen as potentially valuable by community pharmacists. “
“To
explore pharmacist–consumer interactions Cyclin-dependent kinase 3 around the use of complementary medicines (CMs), with specific focus on consumer expectations, perceptions and satisfaction. Twenty pharmacists and 20 healthcare consumers were recruited across 16 metropolitan community pharmacies in Adelaide, Australia, from June to
August 2011. Semi-structured interviews containing comparable questions for both study groups were used. Data was transcribed and analysed with the aid of AutoMap®. There was high consumer satisfaction with pharmacists as CM providers, which was in agreement with pharmacist’s perceptions of consumer satisfaction. However, this was against a background of low consumer expectations and pharmacists’ dissatisfaction with their own role in the interaction. Consumers often perceived pharmacy-stocked CMs to be more effective and safer compared to those in supermarkets or health food shops, but this perception was not shared by pharmacists. Pharmacists believed they had significant influence around recommendation and use of CMs, whereas consumers perceived a more limited influence. Both pharmacists and consumers shared similar perceptions of CM safety and similar expectations regarding business influence and professional pressures on information provision. Behind a perception of high satisfaction, consumers have low expectations of pharmacists around provision of CM-related information.