Pharmacists And Patients

PHARMACIST’S AND PATIENT’S PERCEPTIONS OVER DESCRIBING IN ALBANIA

Msc. Ledi Shehi, Dr. Shk. Klejda Harasani, Msc. Jonida Talanaj

University of Medicine Tirana, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacy Farmaci.al, Tirana, Albania

INTRODUCTION: Polypharmacy is defined as the use of five or more medications simultaneously by one patient, however inappropriate polypharmacy represents one of the current potentially avoidable problems of the healthcare system. A therapy review resulting in the reduction of drugs’ number and/or dose, known as deprescribing, can be performed when drugs are unnecessary, harmful or excessive. OBJECTIVE: To assess the perception of CONCLUSION: Based on our results, pharmacists Albanian pharmacists and patients on therapy are willing to help reduce medications but review, polypharmacy and reduction of there are many obstacles related to perceived unnecessary medications. lack of competence and patients´ expectations. On the other hand, patients have a positive METHODOLOGY: Firstly, we carried out a attitude towards deprescribing when doctors literature review on the topic focusing on are involved. Specific training on deprescribing studies reporting strategies for drug therapy for pharmacists, increasing awareness on review by health professionals, including the adverse reactions caused by superfluous pharmacists, aiming to reduce redundant medications, and close collaboration with medication, as well as the obstacles and doctors and patients are recommended. opportunities associated with the process of deprescribing. Two questionnaires were designed and distributed online to registered KEY WORDS: therapy review, deprescribing, pharmacists and patients regarding their polypharmacy, pharmacists, patients perception and evaluation of drug therapy review and deprescribing.

RESULTS: Pharmacists and patients showed to be generally aware of the problem of polypharmacy. Among 64 pharmacists who participated in the study, 90.6 % of them reported that many prescribed medications are not necessary. Out of 100 patients who participated, 73.1 % of them opine that it is necessary to reduce the number of prescribed drugs. Most patients expressed strong preference indicating doctors as health professionals who should perform deprescribing and therapy review. Just 8.3 % of patients thought they were capable of doing it themselves and only 3.6 % of them would trust a pharmacist to conduct this process.

Questions & answers

Please, tell us a little bit more about yourself. My name is Ledi Shehi and I am 25 years old. I have recently graduated from the University of Medicine, Tirana (Albania) with a Masters degree in Pharmacy and I currently work as a licensed community pharmacist. During my university years I studied different foreign languages and now I can speak fluently English, French, Italian, Spanish while also learning German. I am really interested in developing my professional career and in order to achieve that I am following different online courses and also carrying out pharmacy-related research. My future goal is to get a postgraduate degree in pharmaceutical management. People describe me as hard-working, calm and precise. Additionally, I would say that I am really eager to expand my knowledge and become more accomplished in my field.

Tell us a bit more about your research and its significance. I carried out this research study in collaboration with my professor Ph.D. Klejda Harasani and pharmacy student Jonida Talanaj. I chose this particular topic because it is timely and has a strong impact in patients´ treatment and well-being. As a community pharmacist I am in everyday contact with patients which often report negative feedback related to polypharmacy and sometimes experience drug adverse effects, drug interactions and high financial burden. The aim of our research is to explore the concept and process of deprescribing, the reduction of the number and/ or dose of one or more drugs of the therapeutic regimen, especially among older patients taking a high number of drugs, some of them potentially unnecessary. A specific objective is to measure patients´ and pharmacists´ perception regarding deprescribing and the role of healthcare professionals.

What was the biggest challenge whilst carrying out the research and how did you overcome that? The research was conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic while Albania was in lockdown, therefore we had to communicate remotely about the study and were limited in its implementation. It was also difficult because it felt innapropriate to ask pharmacy patients to fill out the questionnaire due to the physical distance and the aggravated mental condition. However, we overcame this obstacle by sending the questionnaire via email and on social networks.

In your opinion, what is the benefit of joining ESSP and what advice do you have for students undertaking research in the future? The pharmacist´s profession evolves continously and it is our responsibility to constantly use our skills and knowledge to improve patient care. Joining ESSP is a great opportunity to have our scientific research professionally reviewed. It also teaches valuable skills which every one of us young researchers should gain for their following papers and projects. The advice I have for students is to have the courage to try new projects without having fear of failure. I learned that through hard work and with the support of right people we can be a step closer to our objectives.