Role of community pharmacies in a population-based colorectal cancer screening program.

In Catalonia (Spain), population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening offers biennial fecal occult blood testing to men and women aged 50-69 years old. The program is organized in screening hubs, most of which use a pharmacy-based model to distribute and collect fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits The comprehensive evaluation of CRC screening programs, which include the role and implications of pharmacy involvement, is essential to ensure program quality and identify areas for further improvement. The present study aimed to assess the adherence of community pharmacies to the CRC screening program and to analyze data on FIT kit distribution and collection in the Metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). Time to FIT completion was assessed by Kaplan-Meier estimation, and with the log-rank test. A Cox regression model was used to adjust for other variables associated with the completion of FIT such as sex, age, deprivation score index and previous screening behavior. Overall, 82.4% of pharmacies adhered with CRC screening program. Out of 82,902 FIT kits distributed to screening invitees 77,524 completed FIT kits were returned to pharmacies (93.5%) with a participation of 39.8% among the 193,766 invitees. From those who completed a FIT, the median time to return the kit was 3 days. FIT completion time was significantly lower among women, older age, high deprivation score index and previous CRC screening (p < 0.005). Our findings highlight the large involvement of community pharmacists with CRC screening program as well as a high quality in the process of FIT distribution and collection.

An Integrated Multidisciplinary Circuit Led by Hospital and Community Pharmacists to Implement Clopidogrel Pharmacogenetics in Clinical Practice.

The use of pharmacogenetics to optimize pharmacotherapy is growing rapidly. This study evaluates the feasibility and operability of a collaborative circuit involving hospital and community pharmacists to implement clopidogrel pharmacogenetics in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. We aimed to enroll patients with a clopidogrel prescription from cardiologists at the collaborating hospital. Community pharmacists collected patients' pharmacotherapeutic profiles and saliva samples, which were then sent to the hospital for CYP2C19 genotyping. Hospital pharmacists collated the obtained data with patients' clinical records. Data were analyzed jointly with a cardiologist to assess the suitability of clopidogrel. The provincial pharmacists' association coordinated the project and provided IT and logistic support. The study began in January 2020. However, it was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that moment, 120 patients had been assessed, 16 of whom met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study. The processing of samples obtained before the pandemic had an average delay of 13.8 ± 5.4 days. A total of 37.5% patients were intermediate metabolizers and 18.8% were ultrarapid metabolizers. No poor metabolizers were detected. Pharmacists rated their experience with a 7.3 ± 2.7 likelihood of recommending that fellow pharmacists participate. The net promoter score among participating pharmacists was +10%. Our results show that the circuit is feasible and operable for further initiatives.

Changes in prescription drug abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic evidenced in the Catalan pharmacies.

Introduction: The impact of a pandemic on the mental health of the population is to be expected due to risk factors such as social isolation. Prescription drug abuse and misuse could be an indicator of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Community pharmacists play an important role in addressing prescription drug abuse by detecting signs and behaviors that give a clearer indication that a drug abuse problem exists. Methods: A prospective observational study to observe prescription drug abuse was conducted from March 2020 to December 2021 to compare with data obtained in the previous 2 years, through the Medicine Abuse Observatory, the epidemiological surveillance system set up in Catalonia. Information was obtained through a validated questionnaire attached on a web-based system and data collection software. A total of 75 community pharmacies were enrolled in the program. Results: The number of notifications during the pandemic period (11.8/100.000 inhabitants) does not indicate a significant change compared with those from pre-pandemic period, when it was 12.5/100.000 inhabitants. However, the number of notifications during the first wave when lockdown was in place stood at 6.1/100,000 inhabitants, significantly lower than in both the pre-pandemic and the whole of the pandemic periods. Regarding the patient's profile, it was observed that the proportion of younger patients (<25 and 25-35) rose in contrast to older ones (45-65 and >65). The use of benzodiazepines and fentanyl increased. Conclusions: This study has made it possible to observe the impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on the behavior of patients in terms of use of prescription drugs through analysis of the trends of abuse or misuse and by comparing them with the pre-pandemic period. Overall, the increased detection of benzodiazepines has pointed out stress and anxiety generated by the pandemic.

Opportunistic Community Screening of Chronic Chagas Disease Using a Rapid Diagnosis Test in Pharmacies in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain): Study Protocol and Pilot Phase Results.

Objectives: This study aimed to report the protocol and results from the pilot phase of an opportunistic CP-based CD screening program in Barcelona, Spain. Methods: Three strategies according to recruitment approach were designed: passive, active and active-community. The study process consisted of signing the informed consent form, recording the patient's data in a web-based database system, and performing the rapid test and blood collection on dry paper. Results: Nineteen pharmacies participated and 64 patients were included during the pilot phase of the study. The rapid diagnostic test (RDT) was positive in 2/64 (3.13%) cases. Of the 49 DBS samples that arrived at the laboratory, 22 (45%) were collected incorrectly. After quantitative and qualitative assessment of the program, the dry paper sample and passive strategy were ruled out. Conclusion: DBS sampling and the passive strategy are not suitable for CD screening in community pharmacies. There is a need to expand the number of participating pharmacies and individuals to determine whether conducting a RDT in community pharmacies is an effective screening method to increase access to CD diagnosis in a non-endemic area.

Evaluation of Medicine Abuse Trends in Community Pharmacies: The Medicine Abuse Observatory (MAO) in a Region of Southern Europe.

The misuse of medicines is a global public health concern that needs to be taken into consideration and requires actions across all government sectors and society. The aim of this study is to identify trends of drug abuse in Catalonia, a region of Spain located in the South of Europe. For this purpose, a questionnaire-based detection tool was created and implemented in 60 community pharmacies. Out of 548 questionnaires (98.4%), 64.2% of participants were men and the highest age proportion was 25-35 years (31.4%). Potential drug abuse was the highest in urban pharmacies (84.9%). The main drug class involved were benzodiazepines (31.8%), codeine (19.3%), tramadol (7.5%), methylphenidate (5.8%), gabapentinoids (5.8%), cycloplegic drops (4.4%), z-drugs (2.6%), piracetam (2.2%), dextromethorphan (1.6%) and clomethiazole (1.1%). The majority of drugs were requested without prescription (58.6%) and through probably forged prescriptions (23.7%). Slightly less than half (49.8%) of the patients request frequently to the pharmacist, especially in rural and mountain pharmacies (73.3% and 88.5%, respectively). A small proportion (10.8%) were requested with intimidation. Pharmacists only supplied in 21.7% of the cases. This study has demonstrated the suitability of the new detection system, being a useful approach to replicate in other locations with similar needs.

Text messaging as a tool to improve cancer screening programs (M-TICS Study): A randomized controlled trial protocol.

BACKGROUND: Short message service (SMS) based interventions are widely used in healthcare and have shown promising results to improve cancer screening programs. However, more research is still needed to implement SMS in the screening process. We present a study protocol to assess the impact on health and economics of three targeted SMS-based interventions in population-based cancer screening programs. METHODS/DESIGN: The M-TICs study is a randomized controlled trial with a formal process evaluation. Participants aged 50-69 years identified as eligible from the colorectal cancer (CRC) and breast cancer (BC) screening program of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (Catalonia, Spain) will be randomly assigned to receive standard invitation procedure (control group) or SMS-based intervention to promote participation. Two interventions will be conducted in the CRC screening program: 1) Screening invitation reminder: Those who do not participate in the CRC screening within 6 weeks of invite will receive a reminder (SMS or letter); 2) Reminder to complete and return fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit: SMS reminder versus no intervention to individuals who have picked up a FIT kit at the pharmacy and they have not returned it after 14 days. The third intervention will be performed in the BC screening program. Women who had been screened previously will receive an SMS invitation or a letter invitation to participate in the screening. As a primary objective we will assess the impact on participation for each intervention. The secondary objectives will be to analyze the cost-effectiveness of the interventions and to assess participants' perceptions. EXPECTED RESULTS: The results from this randomized controlled trial will provide important empirical evidence for the use of mobile phone technology as a tool for improving population-based cancer screening programs. These results may influence the cancer screening invitation procedure in future routine practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registry: NCT04343950 (04/09/2020); clinicaltrials.gov.

El papel de los farmacéuticos comunitarios en la prevención y control de la Covid-19 en Cataluña / Role of community pharmacists in the prevention and control of Covid-19 in Catalonia

Introducción: En las últimas décadas, tanto la farmacia como el farmacéutico han estado en constante evolución, siendo fundamentales en el control de enfermedades infecciosas. Los objetivos de este artículo son mostrar el papel de los farma-céuticos comunitarios en el control de la COVID-19 y conocer la percepción que tienen sobre su papel en el control de esta pandemia.Métodos: Se realizó y envió una encuesta a 8556 farmacéuticos comunitarios colegiados en Cata-luña, donde se les preguntaba por su opinión y la percepción que tenían de su rol en distintas acti-vidades de control de la COVID-19. Se realizó un análisis bivariante y descriptivo de las diferentes variables de la encuesta de manera global y estra-tificado por grupos de edad (<40 años, 40-60 años, >60 años) y por tipo de farmacia (urbana vs otras).Resultados: La tasa de respuesta de la encuesta fue del 14,63% (1253). A pesar de la percepción po-sitiva que tienen los farmacéuticos sobre su rol en la pandemia, el 90,9% de los encuestados conside-ra que la Administración Sanitaria no contó mucho con las farmacias al inicio de esta. Se han encon-trado diferencias estadísticamente significativas en determinados aspectos, como por ejemplo en la percepción que el farmacéutico tiene sobre el nivel de información del usuario, o en la frecuencia de encuentros con negacionistas, ambos hechos rela-cionados con la edad del farmacéutico (p=0,047 y p=0,001 respectivamente).Conclusiones: Las farmacias son establecimientos sanitarios estratégicamente posicionados para rea-lizar actividades de salud pública para colaborar en el control de pandemias. Por lo que el farmacéutico comunitario, en tanto que profesional de la salud, debe ser considerado una pieza más del engranaje para mejorar la eficiencia del sistema sanitario (AU)

Background: In the last decades, both pharmacy and pharmacist have been in a constant evolution, being fundamental in the control of infectious dis-eases. The aim of this research is to show the role of community pharmacists in disease prevention and monitoring programs, specifically in the control of COVID-19. Besides, we want to know the percep-tion of pharmacists about their role in the control of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: An online survey was sent to 8556 community pharmacists registered in Catalonia, in which they were asked about their opinion and perception of their role in different COVID-19 control activities. A bivariant and descriptive analysis of the different variables was done globally, age stratified (<40 years, 40-60 years, >60 years) and according to the type of pharmacy (urban vs others).Results: The response rate was 14.63% (1253). However, despite the positive perception that pharmacists have about their role in the pandemic, 90,9% of the respondents consider that the Health Administration didn’t count much on them. Statistic significative differences were found in some as-pects, for example, in the pharmacists’ perception of the knowledge level of the pharmacy users, or in the frequency of encounters with COVID negation-ists, both aspects related with the pharmacist age (p=0,047 and p=0,0001 respectively).Conclusions: Pharmacies are sanitary establish-ments strategically located to perform public health activities and to control pandemics. Therefore, the pharmacist, as a health professional, should be considered one more piece of the gear to improve the efficiency of the health system (AU)