Pharmacy worker as a factor affecting reproductive female health
https://doi.org/10.17749/2313-7347/ob.gyn.rep.2020.113
Abstract
Materials and Methods. There were involved 150 pharmacy workers advising patients directly and selling them drugs and pharmacy product range, who answered the questionnaire about cause and rate of patient visits to the pharmacy for advice in various situations related to women's health. Some of such questions were devoted to choice factors in selecting recommended product. The survey was conducted anonymously.
Results. Most often (92.0 %), respondents advise female patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis at least once a week. In addition, pharmacy workers respond to complaints related to menopause, premenstrual syndrome, and contraception: 50-70 % of respondents deal with similar requests at least once a week. Women also visit pharmacy requesting to recommend treatment for dysmenorrhea and mastopathy as well as agents preventing uterine fibroids. Quite rarely, visitors asked pharmacy workers for advice while planning a desired pregnancy: 30.7 % of the first-responders indicated that they did not consult such patients. Drug efficiency was the most prominent factor for 88.0 % of respondents in choosing the recommended product, whereas drug safety held the second place among 70.0 % responders. Most commonly pharmacy workers assess properties of drugs based on own personal experience (88.7 % of respondents).
Conclusion. Women often turn to the pharmacy for help beyond pharmacy worker expertise. Improving the knowledge of pharmacy workers in the field of obstetrics and gynecology is a necessary socially-significant task.
About the Authors
O. V. FilippovaRussian Federation
Olga V. Filippova - MD, Dr Sci Med, Professor, Department of Industrial Pharmacy, Sechenov University.
2 bldg. 4, Bolshaya Pirogovskaya Str., Moscow 119991.
N. V. Pyatigorskaya
Russian Federation
Natalia V. Pyatigorskaya - MD, Dr Sci Pharm, Professor, Head of Department of Industrial Pharmacy, Sechenov University.
2 bldg. 4, Bolshaya Pirogovskaya Str., Moscow 119991.
References
1. Demographic policy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025. [Demograficheskaya politika Rossijskoj Federacii na period do 2025 goda]. (In Russ.). Available at: https://rosmintrud.ru/ministry/programms/6. [Accessed: 20.01.2020].
2. Antropova G.A., Ivanova M.A. Pharmaceutical counseling. Consumer opinion about the role of drugs pharmacies. [Farmacevticheskoe konsul'tirovanie. Mnenie potrebitelej lekarstvennyh sredstv o roli aptek]. Simvol nauki. 2016;(5-3):202-6. (In Russ.).
3. Shilova L.S. Practice of self-treatment of the Russian population. [Praktiki samolecheniya rossijskogo naseleniya]. Kul'turnoe nasledie Rossii. 2014;(2):61-5. (In Russ.).
4. Order of the Ministry of Health of Russia of August 31, 2016 № 647н «On approval of the Rules of Good Pharmacy Practice of Medicines for Medical Use» (Registered in the Ministry of Justice of Russia on 09.01.2017 № 45113). [Prikaz Minzdrava Rossii ot 31.08.2016 № 647n «Ob utverzhdenii Pravil nadlezhashchej aptechnoj praktiki lekarstvennyh preparatov dlya medicinskogo primeneniya» (Zaregistrirovano v Minyuste Rossii 09.01.2017 № 45113)]. Minzdrav Rossii, 2017. 21 s. (In Russ.). Available at: https://minjust.consultant.ru/files/22140. [Accessed: 20.01.2020].
5. Grigorieva I.A., Egorova S.N., Akhmetova T.A., Bakaeva D.I. Pharmaceutical counseling in geriatric patients: study of retail pharmacist informational needs. [Farmacevticheskoe konsul'tirovanie geriatricheskih pacientov: izuchenie informacionnyh potrebnostej aptechnyh rabotnikov «pervogo stola»]. Vestnik sovremennoj klinicheskoj mediciny. 2019;12(4):14-9. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.20969/VSKM.2019.12(4).14-19.
6. Bitew A., Abebaw Y. Vulvovaginal candidiasis: species distribution of Candida and their antifungal susceptibility pattern. BMC Women's Health. 2018;18(1):94. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0607-z.
7. Pestrikova T.Yu., Yurasova E.A., Kotelnikova A.V. Vulvovaginal candidiasis: modern look atn the problem. [Vul'vovaginal'nyj kandidoz: sovremennyj vzglyad na problem]. RMZh. Mat' i ditya. 2017;25(26):1965-70. (In Russ.).
8. Prilepskaya V.N., Kira E.F., Apolikhina I.A. et al. Clinical recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of diseases accompanied by pathological excretions from women genital tract. [Klinicheskie rekomendacii po diagnostike i lecheniyu zabolevanij, soprovozhdayushchihsya patologicheskimi vydeleniyami iz polovyh putej zhenshchin]. Moskva: ROAG, 2019. 57 s. (In Russ.). Available at: https://minzdrav.midural.ru/uploads/19.pdf. [Accessed: 20.01.2020].
9. Bauza-Amengual M.L., Esteva M., Ingla-Pol M. et al. Discourses on the postcoital pill in young women. BMC Public Health. 2018;18(1):803. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5691-3.
10. Moore A., Ryan S., Stamm C. Seeking emergency contraception in the United States: a review of access and barriers. Women Health. 2019;59(4):364-74. DOI: 10.1080/03630242.2018.1487905.
11. Wong K., Hum S., McCarthy L., Dunn S. Beyond plan B: a qualitative study of Canadian pharmacists' emergency contraception counselling practices. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2017;39(11):1021-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogc.2017.04.042.
12. Dodds L., Katusiime B., Shamim A. et al. An investigation into the number and nature of the urgent care consultations managed and referred by community pharmacists in South-East England. Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2020;21(e5):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1463423620000031.
13. Wilkinson T.A., Rafie S., Clark P.D. et al. Evaluating community pharmacy responses about levonorgestrel emergency contraception by mystery caller characteristics. J Adolesc Health. 2018;63(1):32-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.11.303.
14. Haag M., Gudka S., Hersberger K.E., Arnet I. Do Swiss community pharmacists address the risk of sexually transmitted infections during a consultation on emergency contraception? A simulated patient study. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. 2019;24(5):407-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13625187.2019.1661377.
15. Filippova O.V., Cherkasova N.Yu. Consumer preferences in dysmenorrhea. [Potrebitel'skie predpochteniya pri dismenoree]. Farmaciya. 2012;(1):22-6. (In Russ.).
16. SDG Newsletter - Sexual and Reproductive Health (SDG targets 3.7 and 5.6). [Informacionnyj byulleten' o CUR - Seksual'noe i reproduktivnoe zdorov'e (zadachi CUR 3.7 i 5.6)]. Evropejskoe regional'noe byuro VOZ, 2017. 10 s. (In Russ.). Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/ru/health-topics/Life-stages/sexual-and-reproductive-health/publications/2017/fact-sheet-on-the-sdgs-sexual-and-reproductive-health-2017. [Accessed: 20.01.2020].
17. Wiedenmayer K., Summers R.S., Mackie C.A. et al. Developing pharmacy practice. A focus on patient care. Handbook - 2006 Edition. WHO: Geneva, 2006. 97 s. Available at: https://www.fip.org/files/fip/publications/DevelopingPharmacyPractice/DevelopingPharmacyPracticeEN.pdf. [Accessed: 20.01.2020].
18. Soboleva M.S., Amelina I.V. World practice of professional functions of pharmaceutical workers. [Mirovaya praktika osushchestvleniya professional'nyh funkcij farmacevticheskih rabotnikov]. Mediko-farmacevticheskij zhurnal «Pul's». 2017; 152-8. (In Russ.). Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/mirovaya-praktika-osuschestvleniya-professionalnyh-funktsiy-farmatsevticheskih-rabotnikov. [Accessed: 20.01.2020].
19. Petrova S.V., Kononova S.V., Ponomareva A.A. et al. Pharmaceutical advice: efficacy and safety. [Farmacevticheskoe konsul'tirovanie: effektivnost' i bezopasnost']. Remedium. 2019;(11):40-6. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.21518/1561-5936-2019-11-40-46.
20. Langer B., Kunow C. Do north-eastern German pharmacies recommend a necessary medical consultation for acute diarrhoea? Magnitude and determinants using a simulated patient approach. F1000Res. 2019;8:1841. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.21045.1.
21. Reshetko O.V., Yakimova Yu.N. A pharmacoepidemiological study of patient-pharmacist interaction in antibiotics' dispensing at a pharmacy. [Farmakoepidemiologicheskoe issledovanie vzaimodejstviya pacienta i farmacevticheskogo rabotnika pri otpuske antibiotikov v apteke]. Klinicheskaya mikrobiologiya i antimikrobnaya himioterapiya. 2017;19(3):255-9. (In Russ.).
22. Chesnokova N.N., Kononova S.V., Petrova S.V. Improving pharmaceutical counselling of pharmacies visitors choosing the methods of conservative treatment of varicose disease of the lower limbs (without ulcers and inflammation). [Sovershenstvovanie farmacevticheskogo konsul'tirovaniya posetitelej aptek pri vybore sredstv konservativnoj terapii varikoznoj bolezni nizhnih konechnostej (bez yazv i vospalenij)]. Kubanskij nauchnyj medicinskij vestnik. 2017;24(3):120-7. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Filippova O.V., Pyatigorskaya N.V. Pharmacy worker as a factor affecting reproductive female health. Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproduction. 2020;14(5):619-629. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17749/2313-7347/ob.gyn.rep.2020.113

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.