Information on ethical drugs is managed by medication notebooks but information on over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and dietary supplements is hardly covered. Therefore, it is important to understand the awareness about medicationnotebook use on the purchase of OTC drugs and dietary supplements and to take measures to improve awareness. In our study, in order to understand the awareness and situation of medication-notebook use and clarify the effect of group instructions for improving the awareness, we gave a lecture about medication-notebook use and investigated items such as awareness about medication notebooks before and after the lecture. We conducted a questionnaire survey in 80 participants in a public lecture in Gifu Municipal Hospital on April 19, 2014. The lecture explained about medication notebooks and their usefulness for ethical drugs, OTC drugs and dietary supplements, etc. The items of the questionnaire were, for example, awareness about medication-notebook use for ethical drugs, OTC drugs and dietary supplements (Likert scale, evaluation 1-5). The recovery rate of questionnaires was 80.0%. Regarding the awareness about medication-notebook use for OTC drugs and dietary supplements, the rates of evaluations 4 and 5 before the lecture were low (30-50%) regardless of ways of purchasing them, but the evaluations increased significantly after the lecture (P < 0.05). Our study clarified that awareness about using medication-notebooks for OTC drugs and dietary supplements is insufficient at present and suggested that group instructions about medication-notebook use improve awareness.
Education for medications was integrated into the Japanese junior high school health and physical education (HPE) guidelines in 2012, in tandem with revisions to the Course of Study. To assess knowledge and awareness of the proper use of medications among students who completed courses pertaining to them, a questionnaire survey was administered at 38 high schools in Gifu Prefecture. The questionnaire's recovery and effective response rates were both 99.7% (1,403/1,407 and 1,399/1,403, respectively). Further, 86.6% of respondents sought advice from their parents or grandparents when using medicines, with 85.4% responding "No" to a question on whether they had ever purchased medicine based on their own self-judgment. A total of 21.4% of respondents had received medicine from friends, and 21.3% had given medicine away. Responding to a question on whether they were aware of the class content regarding medicines, 31.0% of the students answered "Yes," 48.0% "I don't know," and 19.5% "No." Many of these students who were aware of the class content regarding medicines, however, were found to have never received medicine from nor given it to friends, suggesting the importance of medication-related lessons. The results of this survey clarified the current state of knowledge and awareness regarding the correct use of medicines among students who have taken the junior high school HPE classes on medicines introduced in 2012. In future, further development of both the classes and the instructions are required, to accomplish the purpose given in the Course of Study.
As LC-MS/MS analysis using Monospin C18 can simultaneously and rapidly screen several medicinal toxicants present in blood samples, it is expected to be highly suitable for clinical settings.
Approximately 60% of individuals regularly purchase over-the-counter (OTC) drugs for digestive disorder treatment, and some switches from prescription to OTC (Rx-to-OTC) drugs are also made. Since many of these drugs are classified as first-class drugs, pharmacists need to ensure the safety by providing drug information. Therefore, we assessed the safety signals by determining the adverse drug reactions (ADRs) caused by Rx-to-OTC switched agents for treating digestive disorders. The Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) database entries from April 2004 to January 2015 for 14 Rxto-OTC switched agents that were not prescribed for children were analyzed in adults more than 20 years of age. Hypersensitivity and hepatic disorders were considered to be serious ADRs. Signals in the data that indicated a drugassociated ADR were assessed using the reporting odds ratio (ROR). A lower-bound 95% two-sided confidence interval of > 1 indicated an ADR. Signals for hepatic disorders were detected in the case of 2 Rx-to-OTC switched agents, ie, famotidine and rebamipide. Hypersensitivity was detected for donperidone and trimebutine maleate. In addition, most of these ADRs were expressed within 1 month of drug administration. These results suggest that pharmacists should dissuade individuals from taking drugs before medical consultation.
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