Demissie Fitsum, Buno Henok, Paulos Getahun
Department of Pharmacy, Institute of Health, Bule-Hora University, Bule-Hora, Oromia, Ethiopia.
Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Institute of Health Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Oromia, Ethiopia.
Integr Pharm Res Pract. 2022 Aug 22;11:117-126. doi: 10.2147/IPRP.S375155. eCollection 2022.
Inappropriate pharmaceutical services may result in unsafe, ineffective, and poor-quality treatment. This practice ultimately will lead to prolonged illness, suffering and damage to the patient and an increase in the cost of treatment. This study aims to assess the activities of pharmacy professionals and the pharmaceutical service quality given in community drug retail outlets of selected towns, Southern Ethiopia.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on all drug retail outlets working in Adola, Bule Hora, Dilla, and Yabelo towns, southern Ethiopia from October 1 to November 30, 2021, by interview through self- structured questionnaires and participant observations of the dispensing process.
A total of 46 (100%) dispensers participated. Out of which 18 (39.13%) respondents were from Dilla town, 11 (23.91%) were from Adola, 8 (17.39%) were from Bule Hora and 9 (19.57%) were from Yabelo town. Standard Reference Books 21 (45.7%) and Internet 20 (43.5%) were used as drug information sources by pharmacy professionals to get the latest facts about medicines. The leading causes of a dispensing error were incomplete prescription (54.34%) and illegible prescription (30.43%) from the prescriber. The errors were managed by communicating with patients (23, 50%), and prescribers (18, 39.13%). There was a high frequency of dispensing prescription drugs without prescription paper.
The study revealed that less than half of the respondents use standard reference books and the internet as their drug information sources. Incomplete prescriptions from the prescribers were found to be the leading cause of dispensing errors. Dispensing of prescription drugs without receiving an order from a prescriber remains a common problem. Therefore, extensive work from regulatory authorities and pharmacy professionals is required to improve the quality of pharmaceutical services provided in drug retail outlets.
不适当的药学服务可能导致治疗不安全、无效且质量不佳。这种做法最终会导致患者病程延长、遭受痛苦和损害，并增加治疗成本。本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚南部选定城镇社区药品零售网点的药学专业人员活动及药学服务质量。
2021年10月1日至11月30日，通过自填式问卷访谈和配药过程的参与观察，对埃塞俄比亚南部阿多拉、布勒霍拉、迪拉和亚贝洛镇所有药品零售网点进行了横断面研究。
共有46名（100%）配药员参与。其中，18名（39.13%）受访者来自迪拉镇，11名（23.91%）来自阿多拉，8名（17.39%）来自布勒霍拉，9名（19.57%）来自亚贝洛镇。药学专业人员将标准参考书21本（45.7%）和互联网20次（43.5%）用作药品信息来源以获取有关药物的最新信息。配药错误的主要原因是开处方者的处方不完整（54.34%）和字迹模糊（30.43%）。这些错误通过与患者沟通（23例，50%）和开处方者（18例，39.13%）来处理。无处方纸配发处方药的情况很常见。
研究表明，不到一半的受访者将标准参考书和互联网用作药品信息来源。发现开处方者处方不完整是配药错误的主要原因。未收到开处方者的医嘱就配发处方药仍然是一个常见问题。因此，监管当局和药学专业人员需要开展广泛工作，以提高药品零售网点提供的药学服务质量。
