Opinion of pharmacists | n (%) |
---|---|
Practicability of policy implementation (n = 305) | |
Practical | 252 (82.6) |
Not practical | 53 (17.4) |
Ability of policy to reduce tramadol abuse problem | |
(n = 305) | |
Agreed | 131 (43.0) |
Disagreed | 112 (36.7) |
Not assured | 62 (20.3) |
Scenario of rescheduling tramadol as a prescription | |
medicine (n = 305) | |
Agreed | 90 (29.5) |
Disagreed | 184 (60.3) |
Not assured | 31 (10.2) |
Tramadol dispensing | Number of pharmacies/pharmacists n (%) |
---|---|
Number of customers (cases per week; | |
n = 83) | |
<1 | 25 (30) |
1–5 | 40 (48) |
6–10 | 11 (13) |
>10 | 7 (8) |
Number of drugs dispensed | |
(tablets/capsules per patient; n = 75)‡ | |
<10 | 4 (5) |
10–20 | 69 (92) |
>20 | 2 (3) |
Number of customers (cases per week; | |
n = 136)§ | |
<1 | 74 (54) |
1–5 | 55 (41) |
6–10 | 4 (3) |
>10 | 3 (2) |
Number of drugs dispensed | |
(tablets/capsules per patient; n = 113)|| | |
<10 | 7 (6) |
10–20 | 105 (93) |
>20 | 1 (1) |
Supplying regular medicine along with | |
previous prescriptions | 137 (74) |
Moderate-to-severe pain | 112 (61) |
Ineffectiveness of other analgesic drugs | 94 (51) |
Allergy to other analgesic drugs | 56 (30) |
Precaution/contraindication to other | |
analgesics, e.g., renal disease and peptic | |
ulcer | 30 (16) |
Combining with other analgesics, e.g., | |
NSAIDs, acetaminophen, and muscle | |
relaxants | 28 (15) |
Bone pain | 107 (58) |
Cancer pain | 78 (42) |
Back pain | 72 (39) |
Muscle pain | 56 (30) |
Tooth pain/pain in oral cavity | 31 (17) |
Neuropathic pain | 31 (17) |
Explanation of potential side effect(s) | 155 (84) |
Explanation of special precaution(s) | 96 (52) |
Nausea/vomiting | 95 (61) |
Drowsiness/somnolence | 77 (50) |
Dizziness | 71 (46) |
Constipation | 50 (32) |
Take only as required for pain | 32 (33) |
Be aware of drug addiction | 25 (26) |
Avoid long-term use | 18 (19) |
Be aware of drug interaction | 9 (9) |
Recognition by pharmacists | n (%) |
---|---|
Recognitions (n = 305) Know | 304 (99.7) |
Do not know | 1 (0.3) |
Major sources of information (n = 304) | |
Television news | 150 (49.3) |
Social media | 135 (44.4) |
Thai FDA | 112 (36.8) |
Newspapers | 108 (35.5) |
Patients/customers | 56 (18.4) |
Other pharmacists | 45 (14.8) |
Recognitions (n = 305) | |
Know | 298 (97.7) |
Do not know | 7 (2.3) |
Major sources of information (n = 298) | |
Thai FDA | 207 (69.5) |
Social media | 52 (17.5) |
Head offices of pharmacy chain stores | 33 (11.1) |
Other pharmacists | 25 (8.4) |
Television news | 12 (4.0) |
Faculties of pharmacy | 12 (4.0) |
The experiences of pharmacists with teenagers asking for tramadol (n = 305) | |
Yes | 215 (70.5) |
Number of teenagers (cases per week; n = 213) | |
<1 | 72 (33.8) |
1–5 | 81 (38.0) |
6–10 | 29 (13.6) |
>10 | 31 (14.6) |
The experiences of pharmacists with customers asking for tramadol > 20 tablets/capsules per case (n = 305) | |
Yes | 102 (33.4) |
Number of customers (cases per week; n = 94)‡ | |
<1 | 70 (75) |
1–5 | 19 (20) |
6–10 | 2 (2) |
>10 | 3 (3) |
Characteristics | Values† |
---|---|
Female | 190 (62.3) |
Age: mean ± SD (years) | 36.6 ± 11.5 |
Full-time pharmacist | 238 (78.0) |
Work experience in pharmacies: mean ± SD (years) | 8.8 ± 9.3 |
Stand-alone pharmacies | 216 (70.8) |
Chain pharmacies | 89 (29.2) |
Retail pharmacies | 279 (91.5) |
Both retail and wholesale pharmacies | 26 (8.5) |
<20 | 20 (6.6) |
21–40 | 69 (22.6) |
41–60 | 56 (18.4) |
61–80 | 47 (15.4) |
81–100 | 61 (20.0) |
>100 | 52 (17.1) |
<10 | 82 (26.9) |
11–20 | 124 (40.7) |
21–30 | 48 (15.7) |
31–40 | 25 (8.2) |
41–50 | 20 (6.6) |
>50 | 6 (2.0) |
Yes | 185 (60.7) |
No | 120 (39.3) |
Single drug (tramadol) only | 30 (16) |
Fixed combination drug (tramadol/acetaminophen) only | 97 (52) |
Both formulations | 58 (31) |