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HOME > Korean J Prev Med > Volume 32(3); 1999 > Article
Original Article The Study of Prescription Behaviors of Practicing Pharmacists with Simulated Patients of Arthritis.
Hong Jun Cho, Kwang Su Uh, Jin Wook Choi
Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health 1999;32(3):343-346
DOI: https://doi.org/
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1Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Korea.
2Uh's Family Practice Clinic, Korea.
3Health Sub-center, Woochun-Myun, Hoengsung-Gun, Korea.
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OBJECTIVES
In Korea, pharmacists can dispense medicines without doctor's prescription. This causes the high proportion of pharmaceutical expenditures. The study shows the prescribing behaviors of practicing pharmacists with the simulated patient of arthritis. We select the arthritis as a subject of simulation, because the arthritis is one of the major health problems and the abuse of cortico-steroids is usual in treatment of arthritis patients. METHODS: Twenty drug stores among the 320 drug stores in a district, Seoul, Korea were randomly selected. One of the researchers visited the drug stores and received the medicines from the pharmacists after explaining standardized scenario of arthritis. The simulated patient recorded the practice behaviors of pharmacists. RESULTS: The mean number of prescribed drugs are four and half. Among the twenty pharmacists, the nineteen prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the seven(35%) prescribed the cortico-steroids. The antacids were prescribed by the fourteen(70%) pharmacists. The five(25%) pharmacists only recommended the simulated patients to visit the medical doctors, and the three(15%) performed physical examination to the simulated patients. The three pharmacists(15%) asked the past history of the drug adverse effects and no pharmacist explained the adverse effects of prescribed medicines. CONCLUSIONS: The research shows that the cortico-steroids are frequently prescribed and the pharmacists commonly do not give the explanations of the prescribed medicines to the arthritis patients.

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