Abstract
The significance of communication between pharmacy pharmacists and patients has recently increased. However, it is unclear to what extent patients consider communication with pharmacists important and to what extent patients who consider communication important (the communication-priories group) evaluate the professional skills of pharmacy pharmacists.
The purpose of this study was to confirm the importance of communication between patients and pharmacists by investigating patients' evaluations of the various professional functions of pharmacists.
We conducted a questionnaire survey of patients who visited pharmacies belonging to the Gifu Pharmaceutical Association. The response rate was 11.3％ (110 pharmacies), with 974 patient respondents.
The proportions of the communication-priority group and the control group were 30.3％ and 69.7％, respectively, and a positive correlation was found between age and the proportions of communication-priority group.
In the communication-priority group, the proportion of patients who were treated by their family pharmacist and dissatisfaction items, such as checking the availability of a medication registry, prescriber-oriented intervention, and laboratory data valued at each visit, were significantly higher.
This study revealed that patients valued adequate explanations of medicines by pharmacists and communication with pharmacists. It was also found that patients were satisfied with the pharmacist's appropriate advice, helpfulness, and ease of consultation.
The patients in the communication-priority group were not willing to accept a one-sided attitude of the pharmacist, but they were also not positive about the prescriber-oriented intervention of the pharmacist. It is suggested that the patients who prioritized communication expected the pharmacists to provide appropriate advice as the medication experts.
