• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.195-205
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• 2008

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify drug use by elders. Method: There were 304 participants age 65 or older included in this study. Data were collected using a questionnaire about drug use in the past 4 weeks. The questionnaire, a modification of Uhm's (2005), Lee's (2001), and Ellor and Kurz's (1982) tools, consisted of 17 questions on general and health characteristics, 17 on drug usage and 9 on behaviors related to drug misuse. Results: 85.5% of participants reported laking at least one type of prescription or non-prescription drug. 26.0% of participants reported taking only prescription drugs, 3.9% reported taking only non-prescription drugs, and 55.6% reported taking both prescription and non-prescription drugs. 17.1% of participants reported side effects from the drugs. The mean score for behaviors related to drug misuse was 7.53. Elders taking only non-prescription drugs showed more drug misuse than elders taking only prescription drugs or both. Women used more prescription, non-prescription drugs or both than man. Elders in rural areas used more non-prescription drugs than those in urban areas. Conclusion: Even though pharmacies were separated from medical practices in 2000, most older adults continue to use and misuse prescription and non-prescription drugs.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.130-139
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• 2000

This study is intended to set the criteria for the classification of prescription and non-prescription drugs, and classify hospital pharmacy formulations according to the criteria. 717 hospital pharmacy formulations were collected ken the Center for review and evaluation of health insurance, and national provincial offices. Hospital pharmacy formulations were evaluated based on the 'Guidelines on the Hospital Pharmacy Formulations (Notification No. 2000-46)'by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Drug classification advisory committee was composed of twelve medical and pharmaceutical specialists, and suggested opinions on the drug classification. Among 717 formulations, 651 drugs $(90.8\%)$ satisfied the basic conditions for the hospital pharmacy formulations. 312 formulations $(43.5\%)$ were classified as drugs for the disinfection and tests. For the rest of them, 231 formulations were classified as prescription drugs whereas 108 drugs were as non-prescription drugs. 56 non-prescription drugs were included as hospital formulations, because there were no therapeutic alternatives. Iu sum 599 drugs $(83.5\%)$ were suggested as hospital pharmacy formulations. The study also recommends pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs of limited commercial value, and doctors to change their unique prescribing behavior in order to prevent the abuse of hospital pharmacy formulations.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2014

Unused medication disposal is a problem due to the cost of disposing as well as potential risk of inadvertent dosing. Investigating medication returns is expected to suggest areas for targeting interventions to reduce medication waste. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine types of medications and identify the expiration date of the medications returned to the community pharmacies through "Drug-Take Back" program. Method: From October 10, 2012 to November 14, 2012, the medications returned to the 58 community pharmacies in Korea were examined. Results: A total of 22,160 g of pill medications were collected; 52.8% for prescription drugs and 47.2% for non-prescription drugs, respectively. The weight of the expired pill medications was more than 5 times that of the non-expired pill medications. On the other hand, 6,168 ml of liquid medications were returned; 80.0% for prescription medication and 20.0% for non-prescription medications, respectively. Of the total oral liquid medications, the volume of the expired medications was more than 5 times that of the non-expired medications. Conclusion: The majority of medications returned to the community pharmacies were prescription drugs rather than non-prescription drugs. In addition, most of the drugs were expired when they returned.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.260-267
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to investigate drug classification system in Korea and other developed countries. Laws and regulations of Korea regarding the system were retrieved from sources posted in Ministry of Government Legislation. We also reviewed previous research reports performed as part of government's effort to reform the system The system in the foreign countries was retrieved from the official homepage operated by each country's government. There have been two research funded by Korean government, which strongly suggested that the system should be reformed. However, we found that the system was never reformed and still effective. Drug classification system in US and most western countries consists of two categories, i.e., prescription drugs and non-prescription drugs except UK, which classifies into three categories: Prescription Only Medicines, Pharmacy Medicines, and General Sales List Medicines. Interestingly, in Japan, non-prescription drugs are further classified into three groups: Group 1, 2, and 3. Recently, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in Korea proposed a plan to reclassify all the approved drugs according to purportedly rational and scientific criteria. However, the plan does not include reform of the existing laws and regulations, which appears that it is just one-time action rather than a sustainable administration backed up by law. Therefore, it is recommended that Korean MOHW take appropriate action on laws and regulations with regard to the system to meet global harmonization standard.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.282-287
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• 2014

Objective: Objective of this study was to investigate community pharmacy-based pharmaceutical care accessibility in Korea. Survey on the current pharmaceutical care service provision was performed by PM2000 XE, a real-time pharmacy manager program, operated by Korea Pharmaceutical Information Center beginning November 4, 2013 until December 6, 2013 towards all community pharmacies throughout the nation which use the program. Method: The survey questionnaire consisted of four sections: pharmacy type, time-based accessibility, item-based accessibility, and spatial accessibility for non-prescription drugs. Results: Number of pharmacy responded to the survey was 331, and size of the responding pharmacy was mostly medium-scale (66.47%) with 30-99 prescription fillings a day. Proportion of pharmacy with opening hour of 12 hours or longer was only 53.77% and it was less than 25% during saturdays and holidays. Item-based accessibility was generally acceptable for prescription and non-prescription drugs, medical devices, and health supplements. However, spatial accessibility for non-prescription drugs was problematic because only one quarter of the drugs was displayed over the counter, and most of the drugs were behind the counter so that customers could not reach out. Conclusion: Based on the survey result, current situation for accessibility of pharmaceutical care service in Korea is concluded inadequate and therefore needs multidimensional efforts to improve accessibility of the service at national level such as Korea Pharmaceutical Association and Ministry of Health and Welfare.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the status of drug misuse and abuse in community-dwelling elders. Methods: The participants in this study were elders who were 65 years or over, and lived in ChungNam province. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: All of the participants reported taking both prescription and non-prescription drugs, and 78.4% used two or more kinds of drugs. Of the elders, 74.5% reported that they did not receive any education about drug misuse and abuse. The mean score for behaviors related to drug misuse was 8.76. Conclusions: Results indicate that many elders take medicine frequently, but they do not have any knowledge about drugs and possible side effects. This lack of knowledge might mean that they continue to use and misuse prescription and non-prescription drugs. It is important that elders be provided with precise information about medicines.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2013

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patterns of Over-the-Counter (OTC) drugs and their interactions with prescription drugs in adults visiting a community pharmacy. Method: The subjects were 151 adults aged over 20 years visiting a community pharmacy in Asan-si from December 16th 2011 to February 1st 2012. We used a survey questionnaire. The survey inquired about the prevalence and the details of any OTC drug use and the characteristics of the study subjects. The drug interaction classification system from Lexicomp's Lexi-interact data fields was used to identify OTC drugs likely to have clinically significant interactions with prescription drugs. Results: The patterns of OTC drug use were related to thirties (from 30 to 40 years old), female gender, higher education, non-smoking, sometimes use of alcohol, and self-perceived normal health status. The most commonly used OTC drug category was antipyretic-analgesics (n=104, 53.3%), and the most commonly used ingredient was acetaminophen (n=67, 64.4%). The biggest motivation for taking OTC drugs was suggestion by pharmacists, reported by 55.6%. After reviewing each patient's prescription drugs and OTC drugs, 14 patients (36.8%) of 38 patients using prescription drugs were taking drug combinations with potential for clinically significant interactions. The concomitant use of OTC drugs with prescription drugs may lead to increased potentially harmful interactions. Conclusion: It is suggested that health-care professionals should be more aware of the potential and possible interactions and take into better account their patients' OTC drug use.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.206-214
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to identify the level of polypharmacy use, drug knowledge, and drug misuse behavior in the elderly, and to understand the correlation between them and their effect on drug misuse behavior. The study design was a descriptive survey study, and the participants of the study were 215 elderly people from the local community center. The research tool used drug knowledge, drug misuse behavior, and the data collection period was from February 8 to 19, 2021. The data analysis were descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. As a result of the study, a significant correlation variable for the drug knowledge of the elderly showed a significant correlation with prescription and non-prescription, r=.145 (p<0.05), and r=.-. 136, which showed a negative significant correlation (p<0.05). As for the significant correlation variable in the drug misuse behavior of the elderly, when prescription and non-prescription were combined, there was a significant correlation with r=.256 (p<0.01), and when not using drugs, r=.-.225 was negative. showed a significant correlation (p<0.01). In terms of the effect on drug misuse behavior, chronic disease =.145, prescription and non-prescription use = .233, which had a positive effect, and non-prescription = -.328, indicating a negative and significant effect. The provision of education on the safe use of drugs by the elderly should first be provided in the community. In addition, we need systematic education and social support for the transmission of correct knowledge on multi-drug use by the elderly and for health management.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.79-92
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• 2020

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prescription pattern of NSAIDs and GPAs in the arthritis patients over 65 years old to prevent the GI adverse events. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most commonly used agents to treat arthritis, can cause gastrointestinal (GI) adverse effects. Recent guidelines recommend that moderate risk patients who have one or two risk factors, should be prescribed either combination of non-selective NSAID (nsNSAIDs) and gastroprotective agent (GPAs) or selective NSAID alone. Methods : Study population was National Patient Sample of 2011. Number of drugs used were 138 for NSAIDs and 21 for GPAs. Chi-square test was used to compare prescribing patterns. Results : The appropriate prescription rate follows the guideline was 11.2%: co-prescription with nsNSAID and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or misoprostol was 1.6% and selective NSAID alone was 9.6%. Inappropriate prescription rates were as follows: co-prescription with nsNSAID and Histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) or antiacid was 53.8% and nsNSAID alone was 35.0%. The appropriate prescription rate among the types of medical institute was 54.4% in tertiary hospital, 31.2% in secondary hospital, and 6.0% in primary hospital. The appropriate prescription rate among the regions was 19.4%, highest in Seoul and 4.2%, lowest in Jeju. The appropriate prescription rate among the medical departments was as follow: 12.2% in orthopaedic surgery, 11.0% in internal medicine, and 7.7% in other departments. Conclusion : This finding suggests the needs to revise the national medical insurance imbursement policy, provide continuing medical education about the guideline of medical doctors.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.45-59
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• 2000

This study was designed to figure out current situation of use of non prescription drugs and psychological factors of high school girl students on drug use, and conducted from Nov. 1 through Nov. 20. 1998. 536 girl students were randomly selected for this study. Symptom Check list-90-Revision questionnaires used for interview. The data obtained were analyzed by SAS program. The results are as follows: 1. 94.8% of students had experiences of using more than one kind of drug; lenitive(57.8%), digestant(74.1%), remedy for colds(84.9%), antibiotic(9.3%), stimulant(3.2%) remedy for constipation(22.4%). 2. Students had experiences of using non prescription drug, lenitive(88.1%), digestant(91.7%), remedy for colds(57.4%), antibiotic(58.0%), stimulant(88.2%) remedy for constipation(88.3%) 3. 19.4% of students had experiences using drugs more than one time a week and 23.5% of students experienced tolerance, prescription group(11.1%) and non prescription group(88.9%) and 21.4% of students were keeping some medicine who experienced tolerance. 4. The scores of Symptom Check list-90-Revision of students' were higher than Kim's standard group and the psychological states were worse than Kim's standard group. 5. There were significant differences among groups(no use of drug, use of less than three kinds of drugs, use of more than three kinds of drugs) in Symptom Dimension without Paranoid Ideation and Phobic Anxiety and between using group and non using group of drug in Psychological factors on Drug use by lenitive, antibiotic, and stimulant.