抄録
A large number of patients consult multiple healthcare institutions, use over-the-counter drugs, and consume health food. Medication notebooks are very important for them to prevent negative “drug-drug,” “drug-food,” and “drug-disease” interactions. However, it is very difficult to evaluate the effects and utility of medication notebooks in the clinical setting. In this study, we assessed their effects and utility based on changes in the numbers of questions asked at a 24-hour consultation service provided by an insurance-based dispensing pharmacy (January 2010～July 2011). We compared the usefulness of medication notebooks, no active intervention (January 2010～June 2010) and active intervention (July 2010～July 2011). Our results show that following advice on the proper use of medication notebooks provided by pharmacists for patients, there was a significant decrease in the number and the rate of questions(the number of questions 15.7 to 11.1, the rate of questions 11.5 to 8.7, p<0.05) regarding the influence exerted by a combination of drugs prescribed by multiple medical institutions and over-the-counter medicine. The results show that advice on the proper use of medication notebooks provided by pharmacists on a regular basis serves as an effective tool for reducing questions when administering more than one drug.
