Open AccessThe medicines use review in patients with chronic skin diseases: are pharmacists doing them and how confident are they?
Author(s) -
Tucker Rod
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of pharmacy practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.42
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 2042-7174
pISSN - 0961-7671
DOI - 10.1111/ijpp.12003
Subject(s) - medicine , family medicine , dermatology , psoriasis , pharmacy , atopic dermatitis , alternative medicine , pathology
Objectives The aim of the study was to explore the range of dermatology medicines use reviews ( MUR s) undertaken by pharmacists and their confidence in dealing with the provision of advice to patients with skin problems. Method A self‐completion questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 3500 community pharmacies in England and Wales, UK. Key findings A total of 870 pharmacists responded to the survey giving a response rate of 25% (870/3500). Nearly half of respondents (44%, n = 866) had undertaken a dermatology MUR with eczema/dermatitis and psoriasis being the main conditions encountered. The mean confidence score (on a five‐point scale) at conducting dermatology MUR s was 3.5 ( SD 1.0). Conclusion Many pharmacists currently undertake dermatology MUR s and rate themselves as confident in this role. Further work is needed to establish if such reviews lead to improvements in disease specific outcomes.