2012 Volume 13 Issue 4 Pages 183-188
Objective: The purposes of this study were to verify the actual state and to identify the problems associated with research activities by pharmacists.
Methods: The abstracts presented at the 42nd and the 37th Japan Pharmaceutical Association (JPA) Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science were investigated. They were categorized into six research types: “Outcome research”; “Intervention research”; “Observational study”; “Status report”; “Case report”; and “Other”. They were then ranked according to evidence level, with “Outcome research” ranked the highest. In addition, “Outcome research”, “Intervention research” and “Observational studies” were checked for whether they had structured abstracts, and form scores were awarded.
Results: We found that only 0.8% of abstracts were “Outcome research”. but the level was higher at the 42nd Congress than the 37th (p=0.03). Structured abstracts were also more common at the 42nd Congress than at the 37th (p<0.01). However, the form scores were not significantly different between the 42nd and 37th Congresses.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that pharmacist research activities are improving, but that there is still room for further development. The referee system and the guidelines for research design are useful methods to encourage more activity. The target of this study was community pharmacy, and further studies are necessary for hospital pharmacy.
