Discrepancies between patients’ and pharmacists’ perceptions of the role of community pharmacists as advisors on the use of pharmaceuticals in Japan: A comparison prior to and following revision of the Pharmacists’ Act

Abstract

Objectives:In 2014, immediately prior to the revision of Article 25-2 of the Pharmacists’ Act, we conducted a survey on pharmacists’ and patients’ perceptions of pharmacists’ roles. A role discrepancy between the two was identified. The objective was to examine changes in role perceptions and awareness of pharmacists as medication specialists following revision to the Pharmacists’ Act.Methods:The survey was conducted using an Internet-based questionnaire. A total of 469 patients and 354 pharmacists responded to 12 questions about the perceived roles of pharmacists.Results:Analysis revealed that the only evaluation that changed as a result of revisions was pharmacists’ role as “family or regular pharmacist,” with scores dropping by about half. As in 2014, the high rating rate for pharmacists surpassed the high rating of patients for all other items. The greatest discrepancy in role perception was observed for the same three items (“Understanding the effects of the drugs the patients are taking,” “Understanding the health changes caused by the drugs dispensed to the patients,” and “Consciously protecting patients from the adverse effects of drugs”) as 2014.Conclusion:A major role discrepancy continues to exist between patients and pharmacists, and it is necessary for pharmacists to take on a more advanced role in patient care. Results suggest that pharmacists must monitor changes in patients’ lifestyles and provide clear explanations for patients to rate them highly as medication specialists.

Patient Satisfaction With Public Pharmacy Services: Structural and Policy Implications From Greece

“…As regards our factor analysis, all three items mentioned in the previous paragraph were loaded in the "medicinal advice" factor, which consequently emerges as the Achilles heel of EOPYY pharmacies. Exactly the same failure has been previously reported for the Japanese community pharmacies, the users of which were found to expect their pharmacists to monitor changes in their lifestyles and provide clear explanations in order to rate them highly as medication specialists [23]. This restricted advisory role may be attributable to time pressure [24], but enhancing the advisory role would reasonably require even more time to be spent on each single patient.…”

Latent Structure Analysis of Wet-Granulation Tableting Process Based on Structural Equation Modeling

“…[11][12][13][14] Furthermore, SEM analysis is often utilized in pharmaceutical practice. 15,16) For instance, Yamamura et al found via SEM analysis, that pharmacists qualified to assess the pain status of patients contributed to improving the QOL of cancer patients. 15) Oshima et al revealed discrepancies in perceptions between patients and pharmacists regarding the use of pharmaceuticals.…”

“…15,16) For instance, Yamamura et al found via SEM analysis, that pharmacists qualified to assess the pain status of patients contributed to improving the QOL of cancer patients. 15) Oshima et al revealed discrepancies in perceptions between patients and pharmacists regarding the use of pharmaceuticals. 16) However, SEM is yet to be applied to the manufacturing process of pharmaceutical products.…”

“…15) Oshima et al revealed discrepancies in perceptions between patients and pharmacists regarding the use of pharmaceuticals. 16) However, SEM is yet to be applied to the manufacturing process of pharmaceutical products. In this study, we attempted to elucidate the latent structure underlying the wet-granule compression process and thereby obtain the information essential for the QbD approach.…”