SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ROLE OF PHARMACEUTICAL CARE IN THE DISPENSING OF MEDICINES FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF ACNE

Relevance. Acne is the most common dermatological problem, the treatment of which requires a personalized approach for each patient. However, many patients refer to self-medication. Objective. To analyze the role of pharmaceutical care in dispensing medicines for the prevention and treatment of acne according to the results of a questionnaire survey. Materials and methods. 100 pharmacy workers were surveyed according to a single specially developed protocol, considering issues related to the dispensing of anti-acne drugs. Standardization, an anonymous questionnaire, statistical and graphic methods were used. Results. It was found that 89% of the surveyed pharmacy workers recommend drugs for the treatment/prevention of acne to visitors. In particular, azelaic acid (74%), salicylic acid (31%), clindamycin (49%), and benzoyl peroxide (37%) are more frequent recommendations. More than half of the respondents, mostly employees with 4-6 years of work experience (р<0.05), recommend visitors to take sorbents in combination with anti-acne drugs. It is important to note that almost 20% of pharmaceutical workers were contacted by visitors with the appearance of side reactions after using anti-acne drugs. Visitors note such complications as dryness (31.4%) and redness of the skin (19.6%), increased rash (21.6%). It has been established that most pharmacy workers provide visitors with information on medicines for responsible self-treatment and acne prevention. However, more than 30% of pharmacists do not use the "Prevention and symptomatic treatment of acne" protocol. Conclusions. Therefore, the provision of pharmaceutical care is a necessary condition for ensuring effective and safe pharmacotherapy of acne. While high-quality pharmaceutical care is possible if the pharmacy employees follow the pharmacist's protocol. Postgraduate training of pharmacists in pharmaceutical care in dermatology is important.