Survey of Insurance Pharmacists in Ise, Toba, and Shima Districts, Mie Prefecture, on the Recognition of Target Values for Diabetes Blood Glucose Control in the Elderly and the Status of Prescription Auditing

We surveyed community pharmacy pharmacists regarding their awareness of the glycemic control goal of the Guidelines for Diabetes Mellitus in the Elderly (GL) and the status of auditing prescriptions for patients with diabetes based on their test results. The survey items were as follows: recognize the lower limit of GL, whether and how often HbA1c was checked during a prescription audit, and how to deal with hypoglycemia during medication counseling. Results showed that only 28.2％ of the pharmacists knew the detailed HbA1c lower limit established in the GL, indicating that insurance pharmacists may be unfamiliar with target glycemic control values for elderly patients with diabetes. The frequency and method of checking HbA1c during the prescription audit was 93％ among pharmacists; however, 36.5％ of the pharmacists checked HbA1c >2 months before the correct value was reflected. Moreover, 98％ of patients reported that pharmacists explained the symptoms of hypoglycemia and how to manage them. However, 28.2％ and 19.7％ of the patients provided information to the prescribing physician by submitting a tracing report and making a questionable inquiry to the prescribing physician. Certified pharmacists should take the lead in conducting training sessions.