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Although dietary potassium restriction is an acceptable approach to hyperkalemia prevention, it may be insufficient for outpatients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Most outpatients with CKD use community pharmacies owing to the free access scheme in Japan. The MieYaku-CKD project included a community pharmacist-led nutritional intervention for dietary potassium restriction, with the goal of determining its efficacy for patients’ awareness of potassium restriction and serum potassium levels in outpatients with CKD. This was a five-community pharmacy multicenter prospective cohort study with an open-label, before-and-after comparison design. Eligible patients (n = 25) with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 45 mL/min/1.73 m 2 received nutritional guidance from community pharmacists. The primary outcome was a change in serum potassium levels at 12 weeks post-intervention. The eligible patients’ knowledge, awareness, and implementation of potassium restriction were evaluated using a questionnaire. The median value of serum potassium was significantly reduced from 4.7 mEq/L before to 4.4 mEq/L after the intervention [ p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.156–0.500], with no changes in eGFR ( p = 0.563, 95% CI: -2.427–2.555) and blood urine nitrogen/serum creatinine ratio ( p = 0.904, 95% CI: -1.793–1.214). The value of serum potassium had a tendency of attenuation from 5.3 to 4.6 mEq/L ( p = 0.046, 95% CI: 0.272–1.114) in the eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m 2 group. A questionnaire revealed that after the intervention, knowledge and attitudes regarding dietary potassium restriction were much greater than before, suggesting that the decrease in serum potassium levels may be related to this nutritional guidance. Our findings indicate that implementing a dietary potassium restriction guidance program in community pharmacies is feasible and may result in lower serum potassium levels in outpatients with CKD.

The use of drug information is increasing as the role of pharmacists expands. However, pharmacists spend a huge amount of time collecting drug information, and there has not been any drug information resource website that aims to improve the efficiency of community pharmacists with regard to drug information operations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a drug information resources website (SAGASU-DI). SAGASU-DI articles were created based on inquiries to clinical pharmacists. The usage statistics of the SAGASU-DI were monitored using Google Analytics between May and July 2021. In addition, a pop-up questionnaire was used to evaluate the usefulness of the SAGASU-DI in answering the questions of viewers. Statistics showed that our website had 25,447 users and 33,000 page views, with a browsing time of 29 s on average. Visitors accessed the website through desktop (51.9%) and mobile (44.3%) systems. Community pharmacists accounted for 40.2% of the visitors. The pop-up questionnaire showed that 23.2% of the viewers were satisfied with our website, and 1.5% of the viewers were not. Although 65.1% of the viewers refused to answer the questionnaire, the average percentage of the viewers who were satisfied with the site was 94.1%. The SAGASU-DI was found to be a valuable resource website for drug information services, mainly for community pharmacists.

Background Although pharmacists often identify numerous clinical questions, they face several barriers, including the lack of mentors for research activities in clinical settings. Therefore, a workshop for the appropriate selection of a study design, which is a fundamental first step, may be necessary. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop on study design for hospital and community pharmacists. Moreover, the characteristics of pharmacists with little involvement in research activities were extracted using decision-tree analysis to guide the design of future workshops. Methods A workshop was conducted on October 1, 2023. It comprised three parts: lectures, group work, and presentations. Questionnaire-based surveys were conducted with workshop participants regarding their basic information, their background that influenced research activities, their satisfaction, and their knowledge/awareness. For the questions on knowledge/awareness, the same responses were requested before and after the workshop using a five-scale scoring system. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify independent factors influencing research activities. Decision tree analysis was performed to extract low-effort characteristics of the research activities. Results Of the 40 workshop attendees, the overall satisfaction score for the workshop was 4.38 of 5, and the score for each question was 4 or higher. Significant increases were observed in the scores of knowledge/awareness after the workshop. Moreover, 95% of the pharmacists answered that it would be highly useful to conduct a joint workshop between hospitals and community pharmacists. Although independent influencing factors were not detected in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the decision tree analysis revealed that pharmacists who were no member of an academic society (85%, 11/13) or members without any certifications or accreditations related to pharmacy practice (80%, 4/5) were the least active in clinical research. In contrast, those belonging to academic societies and holding certifications or accreditations related to pharmacy practice frequently conducted clinical research. Conclusion The present study revealed that a joint workshop on study design may have the potential to change pharmacists’ knowledge and awareness of research activities. Moreover, future workshops should be conducted with pharmacists who do not belong to academic societies.

Background Although questionnaire-based surveys enable pharmacists to systematically assess patient needs, healthcare practices, and medication outcomes, it is essential to minimize various biases to ensure that the data obtained from surveys are both reliable and valid. The present study aimed to elucidate whether a workshop on questionnaire-based surveys could enhance research awareness and motivation among community and hospital pharmacists in Mie prefecture. Methods The workshop comprised three parts: lecture (15 min), group work (90 min), and presentation (60 min). The participants’ awareness and motivation for questionnaire-based survey was assessed through a questionnaire before and after the workshop, focusing on three questions. A customer satisfaction analysis was also conducted to identify areas for improvement in workshops on questionnaire-based surveys for future workshops. Results Response rate of the questionnaire was 100% (16/16 participants). In the question 1 “I think that it would be beneficial to conduct a questionnaire-based survey on daily tasks and present the findings at conferences or publish them in academic journals”, no respondents answered “Disagree” when asked after workshop. In the question 2 “I would like to conduct a questionnaire-based survey if there is a specific theme”, the proportions of respondents selecting “Neutral” ( p  = 0.027) and “Somewhat disagree” ( p  = 0.001) also decreased after workshop, and all participants responded with either “Agree” or “Somewhat agree.” In the question 3 “I think that I can independently design a research project about questionnaire-based survey.”, the proportion of respondents who selected “Agree” significantly increased from 6.3% before-workshop to 25% after-workshop ( p  = 0.003). The customer satisfaction graph revealed that only “Understanding of the lecture” was located in the priority maintenance area. On the other hand, “Time allocation of the presentation” and “Usefulness of the mentor” were located in the priority improvement area. Conclusion The present study revealed that a workshop for questionnaire-based surveys enhanced research awareness and motivation among community and hospital pharmacists. Increasing the time allocated for discussions among participants was suggested to enhance participant satisfaction and potentially influence their understanding and skills in questionnaire-based surveys.

Background A dry powder inhaled formulation is used for the anti-influenza drug laninamivir octanoate hydrate (laninamivir). Although two successive inhalations (puffs) are recommended to minimize residual amounts of active ingredients, previous reports suggest that pediatric patients with low peak inspiratory flow are unable to inhale the active ingredient adequately. In the present study, we prospectively investigated the appropriate number of repeated inhalations of laninamivir dry powder and factors influencing the residual amount of ingredients in pediatric patients with influenza. Methods The study enrolled 64 patients receiving laninamivir dry powder inhaler (Inavir®) between January and March 2016 at Tsu emergency medical center/pediatric clinic and dental clinic. All patients enrolled used a laninamivir dry powder inhaler in four repeated inhalations, as instructed by a pharmacist. The residual amount of laninamivir dry powder was calculated by measuring the device weight before and after each inhalation and a residual amount of >20% was defined as an unsuccessful inhalation. Results The inadequate inhalation rate after two successive inhalations was 45%, and it decreased as number of inhalation repeats increased, reaching 23% after four successive inhalations. Peak inspiratory flow in patients with inadequate inhalation was significantly lower than that in patients with adequate inhalation, for all numbers of inhalation repeats analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic analyses indicated peak inspiratory flow cut-off values of 140, 120, 100, and 100 L/min at 1-4 successive inhalations, respectively. Conclusions The present findings suggest that a proportion of patients with low peak inspiratory flow were unable to inhale the active ingredient adequately when laninamivir dry powder inhaler was administered as two successive inhalations, as recommended in the instruction manual. Three or four repeated inhalations of laninamivir dry powder inhaler should be administered to pediatric patients with low peak inspiratory flow.