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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Adherence to therapies is a primary determinant of treatment success. Lack of medication
adherence is often associated with medical and psychosocial issues due to complications from
underlying conditions and is an enormous waste of medical resources. Dose Administration Aid
Service (DAAS) can be seen as part of the solution, allowing individual medicine doses to be
organized according to the dosing schedule determined by the patient’s prescriber. The most
recent systematic reviews admit the possibility of a positive impact of this service. In line with this
background, the study reported in this paper aimed to characterize DAAS implementation in Portugal
and understand the perceptions of pharmacists and owners of community pharmacies regarding
the impact of DAAS, preferred methodology types, and State contribution. The study was guided
by qualitative description methodology and reported using the consolidated criteria for reporting
qualitative research (COREQ) checklist. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with
18 pharmacists and/or owners of community pharmacies. Using qualitative content analysis, we
identified categories that revealed that automated weekly methodology is the preferred methodology,
because of its easiness of use and lower cost of preparation. However, the investment cost was felt
to be too high by the participants considering the number of potential users for implementation in
practice. Participants were also unanimous in recognizing that DAAS has a very positive impact
in terms of safety and medication adherence, and the majority agreed that it also helped reduce
medication waste. Implications of these findings for medication adherence are discussed.
Description
The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the
Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Commission of the University of Beira Interior
(process no. CE-UBI-Pj-2021-004:ID530 and 9 February 2021).
Keywords
Community pharmacy Dose administration aid service Impact assessment Medication adherence Safety Waste