抄録
We aimed to examine the tendencies in prescriptions for home palliative care and discuss the functions of pharmacies that support home palliation and the new roles of pharmacists. The present study surveyed prescriptions for home palliative care by home health pharmacies. The patients’ median age was 75 years. The median prescription period was 25 days. The median numbers of times of narcotics for prescription and dispensing were 3 and 6, respectively. The median number of narcotic products used was 4. Injections were prescribed in 97.8% of patients. Oxycontin TR® Tablets 40 mg, OxiNorm® Powder 20 mg, Opso® 20 mg, and Narusus® Tablets 24 mg had significantly larger amounts issued than other products, complicating stock forecasting for products with maximum dose standards. As 46.2% of prescriptions were dispensed only once without continuation, it was considered critical for pharmacists to make collaboration with other professionals in prescription changes. Pharmacists should have skills of predicting prognosis of home-cared patients to collaborate with multiple professionals. Additionally, they should have sufficient narcotic stocks and operational systems of stock management to cope with prescription changes. Furthermore, human resources who can collaborate with other professionals are needed. As such, the current situation of excessive immobile stocks and disposal may be improved.
