Pharmaceutical care in Denmark: perceived importance of medicine-related problems and participation in postgraduate training

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the readiness of Danish community pharmacists to provide pharmaceutical care. Special focus was on information provided to patients on medicine-related problems and participation in postgraduate training.

Method: National cross-sectional survey distributed to all Danish community pharmacies (N = 288). Response rate 75.7%; non-responders were interviewed by telephone to establish their reasons for not participating.

Main outcome measures: Prioritization of information to patients regarding medicine-related problems. Postgraduate courses selected by pharmacists during the past three years.

Results: In accordance with the profile of Danish community pharmacists, respondents were primarily female and half were below 45 years of age. The main reason given for not responding was lack of time. The prioritization of information to patients regarding medicine-related problems resulted in three clusters of answers. The overall topics of the clusters were: information related to the technical-practical use of medicines; information related to pharmacotherapeutic aspects of medicine use; and information related to the function of the medicine. The clusters accounted for 61.9% of the total variance. The most frequently attended postgraduate courses were on quality assurance and specific diseases.

Conclusion: The patient information prioritized by Danish community pharmacists is primarily of a technical-practical nature. The postgraduate training pursued is primarily technical without much focus on the philosophy of pharmaceutical care. These factors contribute to the lack of proper readiness of pharmacists to practice pharmaceutical care.