Naslov
Patients perspectives on drug shortages in six European hospital settings - a cross sectional study

Autori
Kuruc Poje, Darija ; Kifer, Domagoj ; Huys, Isabelle ; Miranda, Joao ; Jenzer, Helena ; Miljković, Nenad ; Hoppe-Tichy , Torsten ; Bochniarz, Marcin ; Frontini, Roberto ; Schwartz, David ; Vujić-Aleksić, Vesna ; Nežić, Lana ; Rinaki, Eleni ; Tzimis, Leonidas ; Green, Kim ; Jovanović, Jelena ; Carić, Bojana ; Mandić, Danijela ; Vilić, Katarina ; Bochenek, Tomasz ; Bačić Vrca, Vesna ; Marušić, Srećko

Izvornik
Bmc health services research (1472-6963) 21 (2021); 34253212, 10

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
drug shortages ; Europe ; hospital setting ; patient safety ; patients’ perspectives.
(drug shortages ; Europe ; hospital setting ; patient safety ; patients’ perspectives)

Sažetak
Background: It is known that drug shortages represent a major challenge for all stakeholders involved in the process, but there is little evidence regarding insights into patients' awareness and perspectives. This study aimed to investigate the patients- perceived drug shortages experience and their view on outcomes in different European hospital settings. Furthermore, we wanted to explore information preferences on drug shortages. Methods: A retrospective, cross sectional, a mixed method study was conducted in six European hospital settings. One hospital (H) from each of this country agreed to participate: Bosnia and Herzegovina (H-BiH), Croatia (H-CR), Germany (H-GE), Greece (H-GR), Serbia (H-SE) and Poland (H-PO). Recruitment and data collection was conducted over 27 months from November 2017 until January 2020. Overall, we surveyed 607 patients which completed paper-based questionnaire. Questions related to: general information (demographic data), basic knowledge on drug shortages, drug shortages experienced during hospitalization and information preferences on drug shortage. Differences between hospital settings were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. For more complex contingency tables, Monte Carlo simulations (N = 2000) were applied for Fisher's test. Post-hoc hospital- wise analyses were performed using Fisher's exact tests. False discovery rate was controlled using the Bonferroni method. Analyses were performed using R: a language and environment for statistical computing (v 3.6.3). Results: 6 % of patients reported experiences with drug shortages while hospitalized which led to a deterioration of their health. The majority of affected patients were hospitalized at hematology and/or oncology wards in H-BiH, H-PO and H-GE. H-BiH had the highest number of affected patients (18.1 %, N = 19/105, p < 0.001) while the fewest patients were in H-SE (1 %, N = 1/100, p = 0.001). In addition, 82.5 %, (N = 501/607) of respondents wanted to be informed of alternative treatment options if there was a drug shortage without a generic substitute available. Majority of these patients (66.4 %, N = 386/501) prefer to be informed by a healthcare professional. Conclusions: Although drug shortages led to serious medical consequences, our findings show that most of the patients did not perceive shortages as a problem. One possible interpretation is that good hospital management practices by healthcare professionals helped to mitigate the perceived impact of shortages. Our study highlights the importance of a good communication especially between patients and healthcare professionals in whom our patients have the greatest trust.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Farmacija

POVEZANOST RADA