Evaluation of community pharmacists’ roles in screening and communication of risks about non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients

Aim: This study aimed to explore community pharmacists’ roles on screening for risk factors, providing safety information related NSAIDs to patients

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely dispensed without prescription from pharmacies in Thailand, while they are frequently reported as causing adverse events.

Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all accredited pharmacies in Thailand, inviting the main pharmacist in each pharmacy to participate in this study.

Findings: Out of 406 questionnaires distributed, 159 were returned (39.2%). Almost all pharmacists claimed to engage in NSAID dispensing practice, but not all of them provided relevant good practice, such as, screening for risk factors (56.3%-95.5%), communication on ADRs (36.9%-63.2%) and ADR-management (58.9%-79.7%), History of gastrointestinal (GI) problems was frequently mentioned for screening, but many pharmacists did not screen for history of NSAID use (24.7%-35.5%), older age (45.2%-48.9%), concomitant drug (63.7%), and problems of cardiovascular (CV) (24.1%), renal (34.9%-43.3%), and liver systems (60.3%-61.0%). Male pharmacists were significantly less likely to inform users of non-selective NSAIDs about ADRs (Odd ratio (OR) 0.44), while provision of information about selective NSAID ADRs was higher among pharmacy owners (OR 2.28), pharmacies with more pharmacists (OR 3.18) and lower in pharmacies with assistants (OR 0.41). Screening for risk factors, and risk communication about NSAIDs were not generally conducted in Thai accredited community pharmacists, nor were NSAID complications fully communicated. Promoting of community pharmacists' roles in NSAID dispensing should give priority to improving, especially in high-risk patients for taking NSAIDs.