Validación de un cuestionario de satisfacción de pacientes con el servicio de indicación en farmacias comunitarias / Validating a patient-satisfaction questionnaire about professional advice received for minor illness in community pharmacies

Objetivo Analizar las evidencias de validez y fiabilidad de un cuestionario de satisfacción de pacientes con el servicio de indicación en las farmacias comunitarias argentinas. Material y Métodos Estudio descriptivo de corte transversal. Participaron todos los pacientes o sus cuidadores que concurrieron a las farmacias durante el período de estudio (marzo y abril de 2006) y que supieran leer y escribir. Resultados Se obtuvieron 289 cuestionarios. El análisis factorial reveló un único componente explicando el 52,2 por ciento de la varianza total. Se obtuvo un coeficiente alfa de Cronbach de 0,89. Los pacientes expresaron comentarios adicionales en 87 cuestionarios (30,1 por ciento) que se relacionaron con la calidad de la atención recibida y con otros aspectos de la asistencia. Discusión El cuestionario mostró evidencias de validez de contenido, validez como estructura interna y fiabilidad para valorar la satisfacción de pacientes con el servicio de indicación en las farmacias comunitarias argentinas.

Objective Analysing the evidence regarding the validity and reliability of a patient-satisfaction questionnaire about professional advice received for minor illness in Argentinean community pharmacies. Methods This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. All patients or their caregivers who visited the pharmacies during the study period (March and April, 2006) and knew how to read and write were included. Results 289 questionnaires were completed. Factorial analysis revealed one single component explaining 52.2 percent of total variance. A 0.89 Cronbach's alpha coefficient was obtained. Patients made additional comments on 87 questionnaires (30.1 percent) concerning the quality of care received and other aspects. Discussion By presenting evidence of content validity, validity as internal structure and reliability the questionnaire could assess patient-satisfaction with the advice received for minor illness in Argentinean community pharmacies.

Relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and high blood pressure by community pharmacists in Spain.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to determine the influence that different risk factors (age, gender, obesity, smoking, inactivity, diabetes mellitus and previous diagnosis of arterial hypertension) have on arterial pressure, and to determine the prevalence of patients that have high blood pressure and hypertension but have not received drug-treatment for arterial hypertension. SETTING: 42 Spanish community pharmacies. METHOD: Observational and descriptive study. Patients included in the study were over 18 years of age, not receiving pharmacological treatment for arterial hypertension and not pregnant. Two measurements of arterial pressure were taken from each patient on the first day of the study and two other measurements on a later day. The average of these four measurements was taken as the arterial pressure value for the patient. All measurements were taken in the participating community pharmacies, always by the pharmacist and following the same protocols. The measurements were noted in the patients' records along with data about the seven risk factors being studied, allowing them to be related with the patient's arterial pressure value. RESULTS: The number of patients invited to join the study was 3,760, of whom 2,574 agreed to participate, with 2,094 completing the study. It was found that an increase in the number of risk factors led to a corresponding rise in the percentage of patients with high blood pressure and arterial hypertension. The risk of having arterial hypertension was 4.23 times higher in patients aged 65 years and over. It was also 2.88 times greater in those who had been previously diagnosed with arterial hypertension, 2.79 times higher in overweight or obese patients, 2.69 times more in diabetics and 2.22 times higher in men compared with in women. Prevalence of high blood pressure in patients not receiving pharmacological treatment for arterial hypertension was 33.6%, and prevalence of arterial hypertension was 22.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Of the people studied, 22.8% had arterial hypertension. For the risk factors identified, those most related to the presence of arterial hypertension were, in descending order: being 65 years old or over, previous diagnosis of arterial hypertension, being overweight or obese, being diabetic and being male.