A questionnaire-based survey on the usefulness of sharing information about patients’ kidney function by using CKD stickers in patients, hospitals, and community pharmacies

Abstract

The use of CKD stickers has been attempted, with the aim of providing patients with effective and safe medication by sharing information about their kidney function in various parts of Japan. While there are surveys on the need for CKD stickers by hospitals/ community pharmacies, what patients understand regarding the necessity of sharing information about their kidney function remains unclear. We constructed a system of attaching CKD stickers in Fujinomiya City and conducted a survey on the needs of patients who attached the sticker at Fujinomiya City General Hospital and the problem of sharing information about patients’ kidney function in the city area. We obtained informed consent from all 228 patients to whom we proposed attaching a CKD sticker on their medication notebook during a period of three months starting from July 10, 2019. There were 62 (27%) patients who attached them based on a protocol prepared with the help of physicians. We received responses to the questionnaire from 67 out of 74 patients, including inpatients, patients participating in a kidney disease education program, hemodialyzed outpatients (G3b/G4/G5/G5D=7/12/11/37, response rate: 91%), and 19 of 20 community pharmacists who had attended a workshop on kidney disease medication (response rate: 95%). Fifty-one (76%) patients had an experience of receiving drugs at an insurance-funded community pharmacy. Of them, only 20% (n =10) gave information on their kidney function, while only 29% (n =15) were asked about their kidney function by a community pharmacist. In contrast, 16 (84%) community pharmacists checked patients’ kidney function only when test results were available. The proportion of patients recognizing that drugs are adjusted based on kidney function was low (43%, n =29), and all the patients and community pharmacists answered that they expected the attachment of CKD stickers to be started. The ways of utilizing CKD stickers by community pharmacists included not only checking the dosage of the regimen but also communicating with patients and guiding their lifestyle. Patients poorly recognized that community pharmacists needed information about patients’ kidney function, and this information was not shared. The survey results suggested not only that CKD stickers may lead to the optimization of medication but also that explaining the significance of sharing information about patients’ kidney function with community pharmacies and getting the understanding of patients might lead to better utilization of medication notebooks with CKD stickers attached and guide the medical treatment for kidney disease by pharmacists.