Results of post there was a dramatic rise in the appropriate perception of benefits of implementing right business activities. This rate increased from 34.7% to 59.1% for pharmacists (5-year training) and from 27.1% to 35.8% for intermediate pharmacists (2-year training). Since these changes, there have been increases in percentage of implementation of 06 business activities with the corresponding rates from 33% to 51.4% for pharmacists and from 27.1% to 39.1% for intermediate pharmacists.
Trang 1RAISING AWARENESS OF THE BENEFITS IN ORDER TO MAKE
A CHANGE IN RETAILERS’ OCCUPATIONAL ACTIVITIES AT PHARMACIES AND DRUG STORES MEETING THE GPP
STANDARD (A before and after intervention study)
Trinh Hong Minh*; Pham Dinh Luyen*; Phan Van Binh***
SUMMARY
Objectives: To evaluate the results obtained from popularizing retailers’ awareness of benefits that directly affects their business activities at pharmacies and drug stores with GPP endorsement Method: A cross-sectional and semi-empirical intervention (comparison before and after without a control group) Results: There was a dramatic rise in the appropriate perception of benefits of implementing right business activities This rate increased from 34.7%
to 59.1% for pharmacists (5-year training) and from 27.1% to 35.8% for intermediate pharmacists (2-year training) Since these changes, there have been increases in percentage of implementation of 06 business activities with the corresponding rates from 33% to 51.4% for pharmacists and from 27.1% to 39.1% for intermediate pharmacists Conclusion: Pharmaceutical retailers’ awareness about the benefits from adequate business activities will promote retailers’ good performance under GPP standard
* Keywords: Perception; Benefits; Business activities; Pharmacy; Drug stores; Retailers
INTRODUCTION
Business activities are basic ones in
the professional practice of pharmacists
and medical staff at pharmacies that meet
GPP (Good Pharmacy Practice) standards
in Vietnam One of the very first principles
of this standard is to prioritize the profit of
patients and health of the community [1]
In 2014, we conducted a survey on the
reality of drug retailers’ occupational
activities at pharmacies and drug stores in
Dongnai province The results showed
that their awareness of benefits from right
business activities had a statistically significant effect on the pharmacy practice [2] Therefore, we conducted this study
with a view to: Evaluate the results of raising awareness of the benefits to make
a change in the occupational activity of drug retailers at GPP-endorsed pharmacies
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
1 Subjects
Drug retailers including pharmacists and intermediate pharmacists at pharmacies and drug stores with GPP standards in Dongnai province
* Dongnai Medical College
** Hochiminh University of Medicine and Pharmacy
*** Vietnam Military Medical University
Corresponding author: Trinh Hong Minh (hongminh@cyd.edu.vn)
Trang 22 Methods
- Research design: Cross-sectional and semi-empirical interventional studies [3] The research model is represented by the following symbol: RO1 XO2
The result is determined by the formula:
E = O2 - O1
formula based on the two-factor comparison
calculating formula and use in the
intervention study design: 60 retailers [4]
of 60 retailers who agreed to participate in
the intervention process out of 180 people
were observed and interviewed (not by
university and intermediate levels; by area)
checklist and questionnaire
- Direct propaganda: Popularize benefits
to drug retailers in the implementation of
professional activities
- Organize discussion group to exchange
experiences in occupational activities for
two subjects including pharmacists and
intermediate pharmacists (from 3 to 5 people
each) depending on the area of operation
- Results of perceptions of the benefits
of good performance of occupational
activities of pharmacists and intermediate
pharmacists before and after intervention
- The results of six occupational activities
of the pharmacists and intermediate
pharmacists before and after intervention
Comparison of pre-test performance - Wilcoxon test for quantitative variables without standard distribution [6] Comparison
of change results after intervention of two groups by Chi-squared test [5] Use statistical software SPSS 20.0
and drug stores that meet GPP standards
in Dongnai province
2014
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1 Change in retailers’ awareness of benefits when implementing right business activities
Using interview surveys on the drug retailers’ and their clients’ benefits with eight questions Likert score with five - grading scales was used: complete disagreement, disagreement, neutral, agreement, and complete agreement The scales of agreement and complete agreement illustrate the perception of benefits from retailers After conducting a propaganda, an interview will be done to evaluate the drug retailers’ awareness of the advantages of occupational activities
Methods
Collecting statistics
(After intervention)
Collecting statistics
(before intervention)
Comparison and analysis
Trang 3Table 1: Changes in retailers’ awareness about benefits before and after intervention
Pharmacists (n = 22)
Intermediate pharmacists (n = 38)
Wilcoxon signed-Rank test
Before After
Wilcoxon signed-Rank test
business activities will make
a success of drug retailers
rather than invest in facilities
p < 0.05
p < 0.05
medicine without prescription
will help increase turnover
and gain prestige
p < 0.05
p < 0.05
Making good exchanges of
information about medicine
with patients, retailers can
ameliorate business activities
p < 0.05
p < 0.05
Instructing clients for medical
situations, retailers should
put patient’s benefits higher
than private profits and build
their trust
p < 0.05
p > 0.05
information about drugs to
professional experience and
activities
p < 0.05
p < 0.05
Trang 41 4 2 8 5
regulations on selling drugs
with prescription increases
the number of clients and
strengthens the relationship
p < 0,05
p > 0,05
Ensuring a reasonable price
and publicity of drug prices
will give confidence to the
establishment
p < 0.05
p < 0.05
enhance the credibility of the
seller and help the buyers
p < 0.05
p < 0.05
After the research, pharmacists had proper awareness of 8 benefits from obeying the occupational activities (p < 0.05) The approval rate significantly increased by 24.4% (from 34.7% to 59.1%); for intermediate pharmacists, the percentage of agreement increased by 14.2% (from 21.7% to 35.9%), 6 out of 8 contents showed significant relevant changes (p < 0.05) The two remaining contents remained unchanged, that is, the benefits from guiding the drug buyer for medical examination and selling the prescription drug
2 Change in bussiness activities
* Results in selling medicine without prescription in common diseases:
The results of the change in the non-prescription drug sales in common illnesses of the pharmacists and intermediate pharmacists
after intervention
Pharmacists (n = 22)
Intermediate pharmacists
(n = 38)
Activities
Finding out information about disease’s
syndromes
Collecting information about drug users:
Trang 5Giving advice and inform drug buyers the following contents:
Exchange the buyer to choose the
suitebale medicine and proper finance
Provide the buyer with general information
of drug (side effects, drug interactions )
After the research, the results of the sale of non-prescription drugs in the common disease showed a statistically significant change for pharmacist bachelors (improvement from 41.9% to 59.6%); for intermediate pharmacists trainers, the proportion showed the same upward trend from 29.5% to 45% However, there was a tiny change or nearly stable in business activities such as exchanging with buyers to determine appropriate treatment drug and financial ability or selling antibiotics and keeping patient’s information
2 The results of non-prescription drug sale in pathologies that must be diagnosed by the physician
For diseases that require physician’s diagnosis, retailers must refuse to sell drugs and advise drug buyers to visit the doctor Changes in this activity before and after research treatment are shown in figure 1
of the physician before - after intervention
After the research, the results of selling medicine with physician’s diagnosis and no prescription drugs changed significantly among pharmacists, the rate of refusal to sell drug and instruction patients for medical examination increased from 31.8% to 50% These rates increased from 15.8% to 26.4% for intermediate pharmacists, this result was not statistically significant
Trang 63 Results of selling drugs with prescription
Pharmacists (n = 22)
Intermediate pharmacists
(n = 38)
Activities
Check prescriptions before selling
(detect errors)
Give instructions on how to use and
remind buyers to follow strictly the
prescription
Check and compare prescription to
drugs sold before giving them to the
buyers
Give the right medicine as prescription
Sell drugs similar to the ones in the
prescription must consult the buyer
Sell another drug in the name of the
drug but the same ingredients
20
-
1
2
2
1
1
-
-
1
1
0
29
0
1
9
9
8
31
-
1
7
7
6
After the research, the results of the sale of prescription drugs had a statistically significant change for the university pharmacists (the rate of correct implementation increased from 41.2% to 62.5%); for intermediate pharmacists, these rates increased from 41.3% to 54.9% However, the activity of recording drug information for follow-up did not change before and after research
4 Results of selling medicines at fixed prices
After research, the results of the implementation of selling drugs at fixed prices of pharmacist have changed, rising up from 40.9% to 54.5%; however, this change does
Trang 7not statistically make sense For intermediate pharmacists, these rates increased from 36.8% to 57.9%, in this case, the results changed significantly
5 The results of drug packaging process
The differences before and after research in following drug packaging regulation of pharmacist and intermediate pharmacists are illustrated in table 4
Pharmacists (n = 22)
Intermediate pharmacists
(n = 38)
Activities
Comply with packaging regulations for
drugs used outside
Follow sealed packaging process for
drugs that cannot be touched directly
After the research, the results of the implementation of drug packages among the pharmacists bachelors had a statistically significant change, rocketed from 6.8% to 36.4% For intermediate pharmacists, the rate of right implementation rose from 1.3%
to 11.8%, the results also changed significantly Despite the change, the results are rather low, which meant that drug packaging has not yet received much attention of drug retailers
6 Results of other professional activities
The changes in other professional activities among pharmacists and intermediate pharmacists are presented in table 5
Pharmacists (n = 22)
Intermediate pharmacists
(n = 38)
Activities
At workplace
Trang 8Temperature and humidity control
Arrange medicine based on the
preservation conditions on the label
After research, the results of some other professional activities among pharmacists have changed from 35.5% to 45.5%, which is statistically significant; for intermediate pharmacists, the proportion of implementation increased from 37.9% to 38.4%, this change not statistically significant Two completely unchanged activities before and after research are wearing badge at workplace and arranging medicine based on the preservation conditions stated on the label
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
By direct propaganda and discussion
group, pharmacists are supposed to
enhance their awareness during the
performance of business activities
Conducting a re-evaluation after the
research showed that there was a
significant change in perception of
retailers, the rate of awareness of the
benefits received among the pharmacists
increased from 34.7% to 59.1% (up
24.4%), and that of the intermediate
pharmacists increased from 21.7% to
35.8% (by 14.2%) Through the change in
perception, there was a change in the rate
of implementation of 06 occupational
activities, this rate increased from 33% to
51.4% (by 18.4%) for pharmacists and
from 27.1% to 39.1% (by 12%) for the
intermediate pharmacists The comparison
between the two groups of retailers was
statistically significant
Nevertheless, this change is still low
Hence, we think it is necessary to develop
a comprehensive intervention that
co-ordinates the propaganda of the benefits
of right business activities with the state’s
management The drug retailers are encouraged to increase the management competence, make the most of drug users
to stimulate drug retailer activities, ensure the sustainability of the intervention
REFERENCES
1 Ministry of Health. Promulgating, principles, standards good pharmacy practice Circular
No 46/2011/TT-BYT of December 21, 2011
2 Trinh Hong Minh, Pham Dinh Luyen, Phan Van Binh. Surveying the impacts of perception of benefits on the performance of drug retailers’ occupational activities in Dongnai province Journal of Military Pharmaco-Medicine 2016, 41 (6), pp.240-247
3 Nguyen Thanh Do, Nguyen Viet Lam.
Marketing research coursebook National Economics University Hanoi 2008, pp.145-364
4 Vu Thi Hoang Lan and La Ngoc Quang.
Epidemiology Medical Publishing House Hanoi 2011, pp.111-123
5 Nguyen Ngoc Rang. The distribution and a chi-squared test (χ2 test) (15/02/2013) retrieved from www.bvag.com.vn 2012
6 Cleophas T.J, Zwinderman A.H. Non-parametric-tests Statistical Analysis of Clinical Data on a Pocket Calculator Springer, Dordrecht 2012