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Sharing prescription medicines: results of a survey of community pharmacy clients in Auckland, New Zealand

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Abstract

Background The practice of medication sharing, the lending (giving) or borrowing (taking) of prescription medicines, has been reported increasingly in the literature. Aim This study aimed to investigate prescription medication sharing practices among adults in Auckland, New Zealand. Setting Community pharmacies in Auckland. Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted in ten community pharmacies in Auckland during March, 2012. Clients were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire to assess their medication sharing practices. Main outcome measures Proportion of respondents reporting lending or borrowing; information provided or received. Results Of all participants (N = 642), 25.5 % reported borrowing, and 24.1 % reported lending prescribed medicines in the past year. Furthermore, 14.8 % of participants reported ever giving a child’s prescribed medicine to another child in their care, and 49.8 % reported having leftover prescription medicines at home. Of those who borrowed medicines (n = 164), 56.1 % received written medication instructions from the lender, and of the lenders (n = 155), 47.1 % provided verbal instructions with the lent medicines. Conclusion The sharing of prescription medicines in Auckland appears to be similar to that reported in other developed countries, and it is now clear that information provision while sharing does not always occur. Approaches to reduce harm resulting from sharing medicines should be explored.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the support of pharmacists who allowed their premises to be used for data collection. Thank you also to all the participants. The research was supported by the University of Auckland.

Funding

This study did not receive any external funding.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Kebede Beyene, Trudi Aspden & Janie Sheridan

  2. School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Joanna Stewart

  3. Formerly from School of Pharmacy, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Alexandra Gascoyne

Authors
  1. Alexandra Gascoyne
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  2. Kebede Beyene
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  3. Joanna Stewart
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  4. Trudi Aspden
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  5. Janie Sheridan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janie Sheridan.

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Gascoyne, A., Beyene, K., Stewart, J. et al. Sharing prescription medicines: results of a survey of community pharmacy clients in Auckland, New Zealand. Int J Clin Pharm 36, 1268–1276 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-014-0031-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-014-0031-x

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