A Survey of Community Pharmacists and Final-Year Student Pharmacists and their Perception of Psychotherapeutic Agents

Abstract

Introduction:

The World Health Organization has estimated that as many as 450 million people worldwide have mental disorders. More than 44 million people in the United States have a mental disorder annually, estimating the annual direct costs of mental illness to exceed US$69 billion. Psychotherapeutic agents are used to treat mental illnesses and improve quality of life. The purpose of the study is to assess the knowledge and knowledge perception of community pharmacists and final-year student pharmacists regarding psychotherapeutic agents dispensed to their community of patients with mental illness.

Methods:

A survey was distributed to pharmacists and final-year student pharmacists regarding psychotherapeutic agents.

Results:

In all, 100 pharmacists and 40 final-year student pharmacists completed the survey. Upon analysis of surveys returned by pharmacists, knowledge deficiency was assessed regarding anxiolytics and mood stabilizers. The analysis of student participant surveys demonstrated knowledge deficiency regarding antidepressants and anxiolytics.

Conclusions:

Final-year student pharmacists would benefit from the curricular incorporation of courses and advanced pharmacy practice experiences in Psychiatry. Community pharmacists caring for customers with psychiatric disorders should take advantage of continuing education series that highlight updates and new developments regarding psychotherapeutic agents in order to improve clinical outcomes of patients.

Keywords

psychotherapeutic agents knowledge perception community pharmacist student pharmacist

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Kessler

Berglund

Demler

. The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: results from the national comorbidity survey replication (NCS-R). JAMA. 2003;289(23):3095–3105.

Stewart

Ricci

Chee

. Cost of lost productive work time among US workers with depression. JAMA. 2003;289(23):3135–3144.

Soni

Statistical Brief #248: The Five Most Costly Conditions, 1996 and 2006: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population. July 2009. http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st248/stat248.pdf. Accessed August 3, 2013.

Bell

Whitehead

Aslani

. Design and implementation of an educational partnership between community pharmacists and consumer educators in mental health care. Am J Pharm Educ. 2006;70(2):28.

Chisholm Burns

Lee

Spivey

. US Pharmacists’ as team members on patient care; systematic review and meta-analyses. Med Care. 2010;48(10):923–933.

Koike

Unutzer

Wells

. Improving the care for depression in patients with comorbid medical illness. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159(10):1738–1745.

Greenberg

Stiglin

Finkelstein

. The economic burden of depression in 1990. J Clin Psychiatry. 1993;54(11):405–418.

Wells

Stewart

Hayes

. The functioning and well-being of depressed patients: results from the medical outcomes study. JAMA. 1989;262(7):914–919.

Johnston

Westerfield

Momin

. The direct and indirect costs of employee depression, anxiety, and emotional disorders-an employer case study. J Occup Environ Med. 2009;51(5):564–577.

10.

World Health Organization. World Health Report 2003: Shaping the Future. Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.who.int/whr/2003/en/whr03_en.pdf. Accessed August 3, 2013.

11.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics: Deaths: Final data for 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf. Accessed August 3, 2013.

12.

Barraclough

Bunch

Nelson

. One hundred cases of suicide: clinical aspects. Br J Psychiatry. 1974;125(0):355–373.

13.

Dorpat

Ripley

. A study of suicide in the Seattle area. Compr Psychiatry. 1960;1:349–359.

14.

Rich

Fowler

Fogarty

. San Diego suicide study, III: relationships between diagnoses and stressors. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1988;45(6):589–592.

15.

Robins

Murphy

Wilkinson

Jr . Some clinical considerations in the prevention of suicide based on a study of 134 successful suicides. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1959;49(7):888–899.

16.

Shaffer

Gould

Fisher

. Psychiatric diagnosis in child and adolescent suicide. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53(12):339–348.

17.

Drake

Bartels

Torrey

. Suicide in schizophrenia: clinical approaches. In: Williams

Dalby

, eds. Depression in Schizophrenics. New York, NY: Plenum Press; 1989:171–186.

18.

Brent

Johnson

Perper

. Personality disorder, personality traits, impulsive violence, and completed suicide in adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1994;33(8):1080–1086.

19.

Henriksson

Boethius

Isacsson

. Suicides are seldom prescribed antidepressants: findings from a prospective prescription database in Jamtland County, Sweden, 1985-95. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2001;103(4):301–306.

20.

Lonnqvist

Henriksson

Isometsa

. Mental disorders and suicide prevention. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1995;49(1):S111–S116.

21.

Isometsä

Henriksson

Marttunen

. Mental disorders in young and middle aged men who commit suicide. BMJ. 1995;310(6991):1366–1367.

22.

Bertolote

Fleischmann

De Leo

. Suicide and mental disorders: do we know enough? Br J Psychiatry. 2003;183:382–383.

23.

Black

Murphy

Gardner

. Community pharmacist services for people with mental illnesses: preferences, satisfaction, and stigma. Psychiatr Serv. 2009;60(8):1123–1127.

24.

Bell

Rosen

Aslani

. Developing the role of pharmacists as members of community mental health teams: perspectives of pharmacists and mental health professionals. Res Soc Admin Pharm. 2007;3(4):392–409.

25.

Mental Health in a Primary Care Context: Collaboration Is the Key. Mississauga, Ontario, Canadian Collaborative Mental Health Initiative. www.ccmhi.ca. Accessed April 12, 2011.

26.

Reus

. Mental Disorders. In: Fauci

Braunwald

Kasper

, eds. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2008:2710–2724.

27.

Schildkraut

JJ.

The catecholamine hypothesis of affective disorders: A review of supporting evidence. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1965;7(4):524–533.

28.

Coppen

. The biochemistry of affective disorders. Br J Psychiatry. 1967;113(504):1237–1264.

29.

Glick

Murray

Vasudevan

. Treatment with atypical antipsychotics: new indications and new populations. J Psychiatr Res. 2001;35(3):187–191.

30.

Hanion

Handler

Castle

. Antidepressant prescribing in US nursing homes between 1996 and 2006 and its relationship to staffing patterns and use of other psychotropic medications. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2010;11(5):320–324.

31.

Sclar

Robinson

Skaer

. Trends in prescribing of antidepressant pharmacotherapy: office-based visits, 1990-1995. Clin Ther. 1998;20(4):871–84.

32.

Liljestrand

. HIV Care: continuing medical education and consultation needs of nurses, physicians, and pharmacists. J Assoc Nurs AIDS Care. 2004;15(2):38–50.

33.

Levin

. Pharmacists often uneasy with psychiatric patients. Psychiatr News. 2005;40(1):8.

34.

Bostwick

Diez

. Optimizing care for patients with depression in the community pharmacy setting. U.S. Pharmacist. 2008;33(11):24–28.

35.

Aaltonen

Laine

Volmer

. Barriers to medication counseling for people with mental health disorders: a six country study. Pharm Pract. 2010;8(2):122–131.

36.

Al-Arifi

. Community pharmacists’ attitudes towards mental health illness and providing pharmaceutical care to mentally ill patients. Neurosciences (Riyadh). 2008;13(4):412–420.

37.

Eligibility Requirements. National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators. November 2010. http://www.ncbde.org/eligibility.cfm. Accessed April 7, 2011.

38.

Goldbaum

Certifying HIV Specialists: UB launches the nation’s first program for practicing pharmacists. University of Buffalo: The Reporter 2002;33(26).http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/archives/vol33/vol33n26/n2.html. Accessed April 7, 2011.