Community pharmacists’ perceptions of dispensing long-term prescriptions exceeding 90 days – A survey of pharmacists from a single pharmacy chain

Background:The prevalence of long-term prescriptions, often exceeding six months, has increased in recent years.This raises concerns about potential risks to patient safety due to insufficient monitoring of changes in patient conditions after initiating treatment.Objectives: This study investigates community pharmacists' perceptions of long-term prescriptions exceeding 90 days, focusing on dispensing practices, perceived advantages and disadvantages, and strategies to minimize associated risks.Methods: After informing 735 pharmacists from a single pharmacy chain about the study's purpose and content, an online survey was conducted among those who consented to participate.A total of 267 pharmacists responded between July 6 and July 13, 2024.Data were collected using a Google Forms questionnaire and analyzed using chi-square tests with a significance level of 0.05.Results: 88.8% of pharmacists reported dispensing long-term prescriptions (90 days) daily, with 50-70% involving unit dose packing.Reduced patient visits and resulting cost saving were noted as benefits of long-term prescriptions.Concerns included risks such as decreased stability due to long-term storage, polypharmacy, reduced medication adherence, and drug waste.The main reasons for discarded medications were prescription changes (66.7%) and overlaps with other medications (26.2%).Conclusions: Long-term prescriptions can undermine the safety of drug use and lead to issues such as costs associated with drug disposal.Therefore, policy efforts are needed to address these concerns.