Abstract
Questionnaires on pharmacists working in community pharmacies were sent out by mail to investigate their opinions on oral rehydration therapy (ORT), which was recommended as a safe and effective therapy for mild to moderate dehydration in children and elderly people. The recovery rate in this study was 46％.
Pharmacists who knew either very well or reasonably well concerning ORT were 68％. Pharmacists working more than 5 years in the pharmacy, and engaged actively in giving advice on health or nursing for customers and patients knew about ORT significantly. Furthermore, it is speculated that pharmacists working in the pharmacy handling many healthcare items, such as ‘the first kind of over-the-counter drug,’ ‘Pharmaceutical preparation in pharmacy,’ ‘Food with nutrient functions,’ with prescription medicines are involved in self-medication. The most common trigger to start obtaining information on ORT was consultation by customers or patients.
The results obtained in this study suggest that the pharmacists participating in self-medication understand ORT very well. Therefore, the initiative of the pharmacist in community pharmacy participating in self-medication is key to the spread of the understanding of ORT.
