Patients perspectives on drug shortages in six European hospital settings - a cross sectional study.

Autor: Kuruc Poje D; Pharmacy Department, General hospital 'dr. Tomislav Bardek', Koprivnica, Croatia. darija_kuruc@yahoo.com., Kifer D; Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia., Huys I; Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Miranda J; Departamento de Tecnologias, Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão, Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, Portalegre, Portugal.; CERENA - Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal., Jenzer H; Berner Fachhochschule Health Professions Ernährung und Diätetik, Zürich, Switzerland., Miljković N; Pharmacy Department, Institute of Orthopaedic Surgery 'Banjica', Belgrade, Serbia., Hoppe-Tichy T; Pharmacy Department, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany., Bochniarz M; Specialist Hospital Brzozów, Podkarpackie Oncological Center, Brzozów, Poland., Frontini R; European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP), Brussels, Belgium., Schwartz DG; School of Business, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel., Vujić-Aleksić V; Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina., Nežić L; Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina., Rinaki E; Hospital pharmacy, Chania General Hospital 'Saint George', Crete, Chania, Greece., Tzimis L; Hospital pharmacy, Chania General Hospital 'Saint George', Crete, Chania, Greece., Green K; Pharmacy Department, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany., Jovanić J; Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina., Carić B; Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina., Mandić D; Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina., Vilić K; Pharmacy Department, General hospital 'dr. Tomislav Bardek', Koprivnica, Croatia., Bochenek T; Department of Drug Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland., Bačić Vrca V; Pharmacy Department, Clinical hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia., Marušić S; Endocrinology Department, Clinical hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMC health services research [BMC Health Serv Res] 2021 Jul 12; Vol. 21 (1), pp. 689. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jul 12.
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-021-06721-9
Abstrakt: Background: It is known that drug shortages represent a major challenge for all stakeholders involved in the process, but there is little evidence regarding insights into patients' awareness and perspectives. This study aimed to investigate the patients-perceived drug shortages experience and their view on outcomes in different European hospital settings. Furthermore, we wanted to explore information preferences on drug shortages.
Methods: A retrospective, cross sectional, a mixed method study was conducted in six European hospital settings. One hospital (H) from each of this country agreed to participate: Bosnia and Herzegovina (H-BiH), Croatia (H-CR), Germany (H-GE), Greece (H-GR), Serbia (H-SE) and Poland (H-PO). Recruitment and data collection was conducted over 27 months from November 2017 until January 2020. Overall, we surveyed 607 patients which completed paper-based questionnaire. Questions related to: general information (demographic data), basic knowledge on drug shortages, drug shortages experienced during hospitalization and information preferences on drug shortage. Differences between hospital settings were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. For more complex contingency tables, Monte Carlo simulations (N = 2000) were applied for Fisher's test. Post-hoc hospital-wise analyses were performed using Fisher's exact tests. False discovery rate was controlled using the Bonferroni method. Analyses were performed using R: a language and environment for statistical computing (v 3.6.3).
Results: 6 % of patients reported experiences with drug shortages while hospitalized which led to a deterioration of their health. The majority of affected patients were hospitalized at hematology and/or oncology wards in H-BiH, H-PO and H-GE. H-BiH had the highest number of affected patients (18.1 %, N = 19/105, p < 0.001) while the fewest patients were in H-SE (1 %, N = 1/100, p = 0.001). In addition, 82.5 %, (N = 501/607) of respondents wanted to be informed of alternative treatment options if there was a drug shortage without a generic substitute available. Majority of these patients (66.4 %, N = 386/501) prefer to be informed by a healthcare professional.
Conclusions: Although drug shortages led to serious medical consequences, our findings show that most of the patients did not perceive shortages as a problem. One possible interpretation is that good hospital management practices by healthcare professionals helped to mitigate the perceived impact of shortages. Our study highlights the importance of a good communication especially between patients and healthcare professionals in whom our patients have the greatest trust.
(© 2021. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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