Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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ROLE OF THE PHARMACIST IN IMPROVING INHALER TECHNIQUE IN PATIENTS’ OPINION IN POZNAN (POLAND)

BEATA PLEWKA 1*, MAGDALENA WASZYK-NOWACZYK 1, PATRYCJA TARGOSZ 2, WERONIKA GUZENDA 1, MICHAŁ BYLINIAK 3, PIOTR DĄBROWIECKI 4, MICHAŁ
MICHALAK 5, KAROLINA KAMASA 2, MAGDALENA PRZYBYLSKA 2, JERZY ŻABIŃSKI 6

1Pharmacy Practice Division, Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 6 Grunwaldzka Street, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
2Student’s Pharmaceutical Care Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmacy Practice Division, Poznan
University of Medical Sciences, 6 Grunwaldzka Street, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
3Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber, 77 lok. 6 Żeromskiego Street, 01-882 Warsaw, Poland
4Department of Infectious Diseases and Allergology, Military Institute of Medicine, Szaserów Street 128, 04-141 Warsaw, Poland 5Chair and Department of Computer Science and Statistics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 7 Rokietnicka Street, 60806 Poznan, Poland
6Department of Organic Chemistry, Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha Street, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland

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Research shows that professional pharmaceutical services positively affect patients' compliance, errors avoidance and are costeffective for the healthcare system. Nevertheless, Poland still lacks health programs that could be carried out in a community pharmacy. Our study aimed to assess the opinions and preferences of patients regarding education on the proper use of inhalers, with particular emphasis on education conducted in community pharmacies. A survey was conducted from July 2019 to January 2020 among the patients of Polish clinics in Poznan, Poland. Respondents were asked to indicate their sources of knowledge on the proper technique of using inhalers and evaluate them. They also gave their opinion on whether they would like to receive this type of education in a pharmacy. One hundred seventy-eight patients participated in the survey. 18.5% of patients had never been educated on the inhalation technique. 10.4% of Poznan patients received education from a pharmacist and 68.3% from a physician. 63.8% of patients would like to obtain the information from a pharmacist, mainly at an age ranging from 18 to 40 (p = 0.0048) tears old, with higher and lower secondary education (p = 0.0393). Polish patients are not sufficiently educated on the correct use of inhalers. A solution could be to introduce educational programs led by pharmacists, especially as patients perceive the pharmacy as a suitable healthcare facility to obtain this type of information.