A qualitative exploration of healthcare providers’ perspectives on patients’ non‐recreational, prescription medicines sharing behaviours

Abstract

Background Prescription medicine sharing has been associated with several negative health outcomes. Much of the research has focused on patient perspectives. In this study we explore the views and experiences of health professionals involved in medicines supply. Aim To explore healthcare providers’ experiences of, and attitudes toward, factors influencing non‐recreational, prescription medicine‐sharing behaviours, the consequences of sharing, and the types of prescription medicines they believe patients commonly share. Methods Face‐to‐face, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with purposively sampled pharmacists (n = 8), doctors (n = 4) and nurses (n = 6) practising in a variety of community or hospital settings in Auckland, New Zealand. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a general inductive approach. Results Responses fell within three overarching themes: ‘perceived benefits of medicine sharing’ such as saving time and money, and strengthening social relationships; ‘perceived negative consequences of sharing’ such as drug resistance, adverse drug events, delay in seeking professional help, and loss of medicine instructions; ‘reasons for medicine sharing’ such as inadequate medication knowledge, forgetfulness, altruistic reasons, lack of access to health services or medicines, illness denial and embarrassment, and cultural and linguistic barriers. Conclusions Prescription medicine sharing, as viewed by healthcare providers, is a multidimensional behaviour with both positive and negative outcomes. Any intervention to reduce the risks/harms of medicine sharing should consider both the healthcare system constraints and the psychosocial, cultural, economic and behavioural aspects of medicine use. The findings can be used to inform development of specific interventions to reduce risks/harms of sharing.

Prevalence and predictors of medicine saving and future prescription medicine sharing: findings from a New Zealand online survey

“…Conversely, medicines to treat heart problems, high blood pressure and diabetes were the top three medicines that study participants believed unsafe to be shared. This finding is consistent with previous research reports . In general, patients may have their own unique ways of evaluating the risks of sharing certain medicines.…”

“…[34] It is possible that a lack of knowledge about appropriate disposal procedures or a lack of understanding about the risks of using leftover medicines might be a factor associated with storing leftover medicines. In line with previous study reports, [5,6] our findings suggest that providing advice on appropriate disposal procedures and the risks of medicine sharing are not currently common practice in NZ. Interventions targeted at community pharmacists and clinicians, such as awareness-creation workshops covering appropriate medicine disposal procedures and the risks of medicine sharing, could help to encourage healthcare providers to provide patients with information on safe disposal procedures and the risks of medicine sharing.…”

“…This finding is consistent with previous research reports. [5,6] In general, patients may have their own unique ways of evaluating the risks of sharing certain medicines. Therefore, interventions to help patients to assess and understand the risks of medicine sharing need to take into account the patient's beliefs and attitudes towards sharing specific classes of medicines.…”

“…A questionnaire was developed based on our previous qualitative study findings [5,6] and other literature. [1,2,4,7,11] Several questions were included to assess different aspects of medicine borrowing, medicine lending, having leftover medicines at home, and respondents' health status and sociodemographics.…”

“…[1,2] In community surveys of adults in developed countries, the prevalence of medicine lending or borrowing has been estimated to be between 16% and 34%. [1][2][3][4] Reasons for sharing medicines usually include running out of supplies, [1,2,[4][5][6] limited access to medical care, [6,7] emergency situations, [1,4,6] wanting to help family and friends during illness, [6,8] to avoid healthcare costs [4,6,[9][10][11] or just for convenience. [4,6] Some medicine sharing literature [15][16][17][18] and is not the focus of this research.…”