Risk-minimization Strategies Impact On Pharmacy Practice

By Author: M-Washman
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U.S. state boards of pharmacy were contacted to obtain lists of registered pharmacists. Of the 50 states contacted, 20 provided a list of registered pharmacists for 2003. A total of 5,000 U.S. pharmacists (1,250 from each of the four geographic regions based on U.S. Census Bureau categories) were randomly selected to receive a survey.

In fall 2004, survey participants were asked to complete an anonymous four-page survey (see Appendix 1 in the online version of this article at www.japha.org). The survey was sent via first-class mail with a cover letter and a preaddressed, stamped return envelope. To ensure anonymity and confidentiality, no premarkings or numbering systems were recorded on the questionnaire or return envelope. Approximately 2 weeks later, a follow-up postcard was sent as a reminder to return the survey. Three weeks after the postcard mailings, a second duplicate survey was mailed with a letter asking those who had not previously responded to complete the survey.

Survey questions included topics on Dear Pharmacist and DHCP letters, Medication Guides, PPIs, and PILs. The survey defined Medication Guides ...
... and PPIs as drug information materials made available by drug manufacturers; PILs were defined as drug information materials that can be dispensed to patients for educational purposes but not written by the drug manufacturer. Questions about special prescription stickers, special risk-minimization strategies (e.g., restricted distribution), and problems experienced while dispensing drugs with risk-minimization programs were also included.

One of our objectives was to study pharmacist practices and opinions by region. Therefore, we attempted to have equal sample sizes for each of the four U.S. geographic regions. To calculate estimates for the 20 states for which pharmacist data were provided, each sample record in each region was weighted by the ratio of the number of pharmacists in its corresponding region in the 20 states over the number of pharmacists for the same region in the final sample. Univariate distributions were calculated using PROC FREQ in SAS (version 8.2; SAS Institute, Cary, NC).

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