A survey on awareness of the "finger-tip unit" and medication guidance for the use of topical steroids among community pharmacists.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic, pruritic inflammatory skin condition. AD is most commonly treated with topical corticosteroids, and the finger-tip unit (FTU) should be used as a guideline for the amount to be used per application. In this study, we investigated the adequacy of pharmacists' instructions on the amount of topical steroids to be applied and the way in which they enhance the effect of pharmaceutical interventions. A self- administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed using QLifePro to 300 pharmacists working in insurance pharmacies that filled at least one dermatologist's prescription per month on average in Japan. Out of 300 pharmacists, 196 (65.3%) recognized the Japanese Dermatological Association's 2016 guidelines for the treatment AD, 107 (35.6%) gave instructions using the FTU as an index of external dose of topical steroids, 157 (52.3%) explained the amount of steroid application using an index other than FTU, and 61 (38.9% of 157) had inadequately instructed AD patients to apply steroids as a thin layer. Pharmacists who had read the guidelines for AD tended to give an appropriate instruction using FTU as an index of external dose of topical steroids (p < 0.001). We found that many pharmacists in pharmacies gave inadequate instructions on the amount of topical steroid application and deviated from the guidelines for AD, mainly because of inadequate knowledge of the guidelines.