Evaluation of an educational program for community pharmacists involved in pharmacotherapy for patients with impaired renal function: a preliminary study.

BACKGROUND

Inquiries by community pharmacists to physicians regarding prescriptions for patients with impaired renal function are an important part of pharmaceutical care. However, such inquiries remain infrequent in Japan. To address this, we conducted a study to assess the effects of an educational program aimed at improving pharmacists' understanding of renal function assessment and prescription management.

METHODS

We evaluated the changes in knowledge and awareness of pharmacists at 14 community pharmacies. The participants watched five instructional videos between September 12 and 18, 2022, and a questionnaire survey was administered immediately before and after the program. In addition, we analyzed pharmacy-level changes in the number of inquiries made to physicians regarding prescriptions related to renal function. The study was performed from June 6 to December 25, 2022. Changes were evaluated using interrupted time series (ITS) analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 43 pharmacists viewed the educational videos. The median number of correct answers increased significantly from seven before the intervention to nine afterwards (p < 0.001). During the study period, 64 inquiries related to renal function were recorded. ITS analysis showed no significant change in the number of inquiries following the intervention.

CONCLUSION

Although the educational program improved the knowledge of the pharmacists, it did not lead to an increase in the number of inquiries made to physicians. Further larger scale studies are needed to validate the program's effectiveness.