Questionnaire Survey to Clarify the Differences in Awareness of Side Effects between Pharmacists and Patients

As reported, the occurrence of side effects affects a patientʼs willingness to take treatment, causing a decline in medication adherence. Moreover, because there may be individual differences in the level of understanding of the term “side effects,” we conducted a questionnaire survey to clarify the differences in the perception of “side effects” between pharmacists and patients. We conducted a questionnaire survey and received 270 responses (ie, 210 pharmacy visitors and 60 pharmacists). When comparing the side effect symptoms that pharmacists explained in advance to patients taking antipyretic analgesics with those that visitors considered as side effects, significantly more pharmacists (80.0％) explained gastrointestinal symptoms than visitors (48.6％) recognized as side effects (P < 0.05). This indicates that patientsʼ understanding of the medication guidance provided by pharmacists was low, and that pharmacists and patients have different perceptions of side effects. As regards patientsʼ experience on side effects (all answers: 87), 21 (24.1％) answered that they did not tell their medical staff, while eight (9.2％) answered that they stopped taking the drug after the symptom onset. In other words, medication was discontinued without the knowledge of the medical staff because of the decreased adherence triggered by the side effects. To prevent a decrease in the medication adherence, it is important to provide patients with information, confirm that the patient understands the medication instruction, monitor the development of side effects by pharmacists, and pay attention to the difference in the perception of side effects between pharmacists and patients.