Collection of Medical Drug Information in Pharmacies: Drug Event Monitoring (DEM) in Japan

Event Monitoring and Evaluation by Community Pharmacists in Japan: A Pilot study on Fenofibrate and Pemafibrate

BACKGROUND

The Japan Pharmaceutical Association has conducted drug event monitoring to detect drug-related events related to pemafibrate. A pilot study evaluating the association between drug use and detected events was performed in Japan, as there are few studies on the safety of pemafibrate in clinical settings.

AIM

We investigated the association between detected events and pemafibrate, utilizing pharmacy records maintained by community pharmacists. We identified the new-user cohort comprising a test and active comparison drug and collected baseline information. An active comparison group comprising new users was used to assess the events.

METHOD

A retrospective cohort study using questionnaires on baseline and event data was conducted by community pharmacists belonging to the Japan Pharmaceutical Association. The incidence of event and estimated hazard ratio were calculated using the Cox proportional hazards model that was adjusted for confounding factors, such as age and sex.

RESULTS

A total of 1294 patients using pemafibrate and 508 patients using fenofibrate were identified as new drug users. The most reported events for suspected adverse reactions and add-on drugs were increased blood pressure and lipid-lowering drugs with pemafibrate use, and nasopharyngitis, pruritus, dizziness, and lipid-lowering drug with fenofibrate use. No significant differences were found for common events, except for an add-on of an anti-hypertensive for pemafibrate compared with fenofibrate.

CONCLUSION

Although further study is needed, this study by pharmacists can facilitate the safety assessment of newly marketed drugs, as few drug use investigations with a comparator are carried out by the Japanese authority for pharmaceutical companies.

Current state of community pharmacy in Japan: practice, research, and future opportunities or challenges

OBJECTIVE

To describe the activities related to pharmaceutical care and research in community pharmacies in Japan.

FINDINGS

Japan is an aging society; the proportion of elderly people aged at least 65 years was 19.9% in 2005 and is expected to rise to 26.0% by 2015. This increase will result in ballooning healthcare costs. To curb the huge and rapidly increasing expenditure on medical treatment, many structural reforms have been undertaken in Japan. The healthcare services in community pharmacies will also undergo reforms to meet social needs and patient/customer requirements. In 2006, the undergraduate pharmacy program offered by universities was changed to a 6 year program, including 6 months of clinical training in both hospitals and community pharmacies. This change should provide an opportunity for community pharmacists and academics to communicate with each other, and we anticipate that it will further the research in community pharmacies. Accreditation programs will also improve the level of health care.

DISCUSSION

The healthcare system should undergo reforms to address the problems related to Japan's low birth rate and the needs of an aging population. Such reforms are also required to ensure a healthy aging society and should not have adverse effects on socially vulnerable children and the elderly. Pharmacists should contribute to the development of a healthcare system for an aging society by providing appropriate pharmaceutical care. Since a large number of prescriptions are dispensed through community pharmacies, pharmacists have a greater opportunity to improve health care. In addition, pharmacist associations are encouraging their members to actively participate in home medical care services. An effective community healthcare program should reduce the need for institutional care.

CONCLUSIONS

Although Japanese pharmacists are not fully capable of providing pharmaceutical care at this stage, they will play a crucial role in ensuring a healthy aging society in the future, particularly in the community setting.