International journal of clinical pharmacy
-
Background Current reports of outpatient antimicrobial prescribing practices may overestimate guideline concordance since they address only drug selection. Appropriate stewardship should consider all prescribing criteria (i.e., dose, frequency, duration, and route of administration) to fully assess guideline concordance. Objective Using a community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) example, the aims of this pilot study were to estimate guideline concordance in adult patients 18 years or older when all prescribing criteria are considered, and provide recommendations to optimize treatment. ⋯ Conclusion Concordance with current guidelines in this local sample is suboptimal. In the low-risk group, when the correct medication was chosen, dose, duration, and frequency were appropriate. Consideration of dose and duration of treatment decreased the rate of concordant prescribing in the high-risk group.
-
Objective To explore community pharmacists' continuing education, counseling and communication practices, attitudes and barriers in relation to pediatric asthma management. Setting Community pharmacies in Michigan, United States. Methods Between July and September 2015 a convenience sample of community pharmacists was recruited from southeastern Michigan and asked to complete a structured, self-reported questionnaire. ⋯ This study showed that community pharmacists are confident in general communication. However pharmacists are reporting lower confidence levels in counseling on higher order self-management strategies with patients. More appropriate and targeted continuing education programs for pharmacists around asthma self-management education are recommended.