Real world data supporting identification of the pharmacist’s role in obesity and overweight treatment in Poland – a preliminary report

Mariola Drozd
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Lucyna Bułaś
Monika Szkultecka-Dębek
Agnieszka Skowron
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Department of Applied Pharmacy, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, School of Pharmacy with The Division of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
Department of Dermatology, Military Institute of Medicine, Warsaw, Poland
Department of Social Pharmacy, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Cracow, Poland
Received: 5 April 2017 / Accepted: 13 July 2017 / Published: 30 September 2017

Abstract

Introduction. Obesity is a significant health and economic problem, both for the patient and the health care system. An essential element in the prevention and treatment of each disease is the engagement of all groups of healthcare professionals.

Aim. In our study, we performed an analysis of the real world data, obtained from a survey of the medical and socioeconomic problems associated with overweight and obesity. We aimed to identify the pharmacist’s role in the management of overweight and obese patients, including their individualized education in an outpatient setting.

Material and methods. The study material consisted of responses obtained from a specially designed questionnaire. Our findings indicate that the study patients had easy access to a pharmacist’s professional knowledge, relevant to comprehensive treatment of obesity. In addition, our data indicates a lack of patient knowledge of a healthy lifestyle and an inability to implement such knowledge in practice.

Results. The community pharmacist should actively provide support to patients with obesity (including the primary obesity and those who want to lose excessive body mass for health-related and also for aesthetic reasons) and the management of their weight. The results of our study should be considered as an introduction to further research to facilitate the understanding of problems and expectations of patients and to prepare pharmacists to perform pharmaceutical care (PC) in this regard.

Conclusion. One of the potential options to protect society against the obesity epidemic is an education about the risks inherent to obesity and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

 

Cite

Drozd M, Bułaś L, Szkultecka-Dębek M, Skowron A. Real world data supporting identification of the pharmacist’s role in obesity and overweight treatment in Poland – a preliminary report. Eur J Clin Exp Med. 2017;15(3):192–199. doi: 10.15584/ejcem.2017.3.2

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