Awuonda Mary K, Alem Ghada, Olbert Brittany, Reddy Medha, Daftary Monika, Wingate La'Marcus, Ettienne Earl
Clinical & Administrative Pharmacy Sciences, Howard University College of Pharmacy, Washington, DC, USA.
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
Drug Healthc Patient Saf. 2024 Dec 7;16:125-132. doi: 10.2147/DHPS.S412786. eCollection 2024.
Medication use during pregnancy is prevalent with notable increases in the use of over-the-counter medications. In this era of information proliferation, it is important to understand where women of reproductive age obtain information on medication safety.
The main objective of this study was to determine the predictive factors associated with the utilization of pharmacists as a medication information safety resource among reproductive age women.
A cross-sectional evaluation of baseline characteristics, collected during an online knowledge intervention study, was conducted among women aged 18-44 who were living in the United States in 2018 to 2019. Descriptive statistics for all study variables were estimated. Logistic regression analyses were done to assess the predictors of the utilization of pharmacists as a medication safety resource.
A total of 210 women of reproductive age were included in the study. The average age was 32.4 ± 6.5 years and the majority were White (69.5%), married (61.4%), and had at least a high school education level (86%). Fifty four percent of participants reported using pharmacists as a medication safety information resource. Findings from the multivariable analyses showed that women who reported difficulty understanding written medical information (p = 0.018) and those who were Black or African American (p = 0.008) had less odds of utilizing pharmacists as a medication information source.
Despite pharmacists being one of the most accessible health care professionals on medication information, only 54.3% of women surveyed utilized them as medication information sources. It was also found that women who had difficulty understanding written information and those who were Black or African American were less likely to utilize pharmacists as a medication safety information resource. Findings show opportunities for pharmacists to increase perceived value as medication safety experts among women of childbearing age. Additional studies need to be conducted given the study's limited generalizability.
孕期用药很普遍，非处方药的使用显著增加。在这个信息激增的时代，了解育龄女性从何处获取药物安全信息很重要。
本研究的主要目的是确定与育龄女性将药剂师作为药物信息安全资源利用相关的预测因素。
对2018年至2019年居住在美国的18至44岁女性进行了一项横断面评估，这些数据是在一项在线知识干预研究中收集的基线特征。对所有研究变量进行了描述性统计。进行逻辑回归分析以评估将药剂师作为药物安全资源利用的预测因素。
共有210名育龄女性纳入研究。平均年龄为32.4±6.5岁，大多数为白人（69.5%）、已婚（61.4%），且至少具有高中教育水平（86%）。54%的参与者报告将药剂师作为药物安全信息资源。多变量分析结果显示，报告难以理解书面医学信息的女性（p = 0.018）以及黑人或非裔美国女性（p = 0.008）将药剂师作为药物信息来源的可能性较小。
尽管药剂师是获取药物信息最便捷的医疗保健专业人员之一，但只有54.3%的受访女性将他们作为药物信息来源。还发现，难以理解书面信息的女性以及黑人或非裔美国女性不太可能将药剂师作为药物安全信息资源。研究结果表明药剂师有机会提高在育龄女性中作为药物安全专家的认知价值。鉴于本研究的普遍适用性有限，需要进行更多研究。
