Acceptance of Pharmaceutical Services by Home-Dwelling Older Patients: A Case Study in a Portuguese Community Pharmacy

• Autor(a) principal: Paiva, Ana
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Plácido, Ana, Curto, Isabel, Morgado, Manuel, Herdeiro, Maria, Roque, Fátima
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18147401
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10314/7462; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147401
• topic: community pharmacy; medication adherence; older adults; polypharmacy

Background: Aging-related comorbidities predispose older adults to polypharmacy and consequently an increased risk of adverse drug reactions and poor compliance. Pharmacists' interventions can have a beneficial impact on the improvement of clinical outcomes. Thus, this work aimed to assess the acceptance of Portuguese home-dwelling older adults regarding a pharmaceutical service paid by patients for medication management and pharmacotherapy follow-up. We also intended to analyze medication, characterize the medication consumption profile, and identify the main difficulties of our sample during their daily medication management. Methods: A questionnaire on adherence and medication therapy management was applied to polymedicated patients ≥65 years old, in a community pharmacy. Results: Of the 88 participants, 92.2% would be willing to pay for a pharmacotherapy management service, and 75.6% answered that they would be willing to pay for an individual medication preparation service. In addition, 45.7% of the participants were categorized as lower adherents to a medication therapeutic regimen. Our sample reported that during their daily lives, they felt difficulty: to remember to take their pills (17%), to manage so many medicines (15.9%), and to swallow the pills (9.1%). Conclusions: Polymedicated older adults are willing to pay for a service to improve the management of their medicines, suggesting that they recognize the role of pharmacists in medication management. This study provides useful information for the conceptualization of a pharmacotherapy management service that includes medication review and a pharmacotherapy follow-up.