Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks

Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks
86
Fig . 5 .7 . Number of simultaneously taken medicines for which the risk of interaction is
certain, according to doctors
Second-degree specialist
(highest level)
First-degree specialist
Physician
No specialty
%
0 20 40 60 80 100
1–3 medications
3–5 medications
5–7 medications
More than 8 medications
The primary care physicians consulted in this survey had no practice of reporting
ADR occurrence to the designated and specialized centres for monitoring safety of
pharmacotherapy: 96% indicated they had seldom (“never” or “sometimes”) and 74%
had “never” reported an ADR. Such responses are alarming not only in the light of
the existing legislation, 27 but also considering the results of the pilot study: 90% of
doctors claimed to treat patients with ADRs resulting from OTC drug interactions,
and 38% indicated that additional treatment had been required due to ADRs caused
by dietary supplements or herbal medicines. This indicates a lack of adequate awareness
and inappropriate practice on the reporting of ADRs, which hampers rational and safe
pharmacotherapy and may place individual patients at risk from unsafe medications.
ADRs were most frequently reported by the highly specialist medical practitioners
(Fig. 5.8), which might suggest the need to revisit the process of CME at PHC level.
Fig . 5 .8 . Frequency of reporting ADRs to designated authorities by doctors’ degree of
specialization
Second-degree specialist
(highest level)
First-degree specialist
Physician
No specialty
0 20 40 60 80
%
100
Never
Always
Sometimes
27 Law on Pharmacy; Law on the Profession of Doctor and Dentists; Decree of Minister of Health regarding Monitoring of the
Safety of Medicinal Products (17 February 2003).