Leipert Beverly D, Matsui Doreen, Wagner Jessica, Rieder Michael J
Rural Women's Health Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont.
Can J Rural Med. 2008 Autumn;13(4):171-9.
The needs and issues of rural women regarding pharmacologic information and therapy are rarely explored. We sought to explore the needs and issues of rural women in Canada regarding drug-related information and prescription and nonprescription pharmaceuticals.
We used the qualitative methodology of interpretive description. In-depth semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 women aged 17-88 years who lived in rural southwestern Ontario.
Although rural women accessed prescription medications, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) was highly favoured, and alcohol and illicit drugs such as marijuana, crystal meth and cocaine were prevalent in rural communities. Factors that affected rural women's decisions about which medications to use included access to health care practitioners, costs of medications, experiences of family members and friends with prescribed and alternative medications, attitudes and approaches of health care providers and health store employees, and the women's own expectations and desires. Factors that affected the use of illicit drugs included availability, boredom, peer pressure and cultural norms. Rural factors that influenced access to drug information and use included presence or lack of confidential care, distance to resources, and presence, accessibility and acceptability of rural resources.
Rural women use a variety of drug therapies and sources of information, and experience unique socioeconomic and environmental issues that affect access to appropriate drug-related information and therapies. Further research is needed to clarify and articulate pharmacologic needs, issues and solutions for women in diverse rural settings.
农村女性在药物信息和治疗方面的需求及问题鲜有研究。我们旨在探究加拿大农村女性在药物相关信息以及处方药和非处方药方面的需求及问题。
我们采用了解释性描述的定性研究方法。对安大略省西南部农村地区20名年龄在17至88岁之间的女性进行了深入的半结构化面对面访谈。
尽管农村女性会使用处方药，但她们非常青睐补充和替代医学（CAM），而且酒精以及大麻、冰毒和可卡因等非法药物在农村社区很普遍。影响农村女性决定使用何种药物的因素包括能否看医疗保健从业者、药物成本、家庭成员和朋友使用处方药和替代药物的经历、医疗保健提供者和健康商店员工的态度及方法，以及女性自身的期望和愿望。影响非法药物使用的因素包括可得性、无聊、同伴压力和文化规范。影响获取药物信息和使用药物的农村因素包括是否有保密护理、与资源的距离，以及农村资源的存在、可及性和可接受性。
农村女性使用多种药物治疗方法和信息来源，并面临独特的社会经济和环境问题，这些问题影响她们获取适当的药物相关信息和治疗。需要进一步研究以阐明并明确不同农村环境中女性的药物需求、问题及解决方案。
