[An Evaluation of the Information for the Patient in Pharmacies]

Objective: To study the nature of the information that is supplied by pharmacies in Bizkaia to their patients and the factors impinging on this information.

Design: Crossover study of a sample of users of pharmacies. SITE. The research was done in 10 representative community pharmacies in the province of Bizkaia, included in which were rural and urban pharmacies.

Patients: 19,875 patients who used these pharmacies during the month of the study (May, 1991).

Interventions: The information given the patient by the pharmacist was analyzed, as to whether the request came from the patient him/herself or not and as to the subject matter of this information.

Main Measurements And Results: The pharmacist gave information to 4,162 of the 19,875 people observed, i.e. 1 in every 5 patients. More information was exchanged as a result of patients' request (69.17% of all the information given) than the pharmacist's volunteering it (30.38%). These figures constituted 14.48% and 6.45% respectively of the total number of people using the pharmacies during this month. The greatest number of requests for information by patients was concerning illnesses and their treatment: 22.4% of all the information.

Conclusions: Information is given in pharmacies concerning health questions. However a mechanism needs to be found so that this information is of sufficient scope to contribute towards greater efficiency of treatment and health programmes.