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The aim of the research was to explore post-registration training opportunities for NHS hospital pharmacists which contributes to promote structural reform of the professional development and lifelong learning for Korean hospital pharmacists. In UK, all pharmacists are required to complete at least 9 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) entries per each year to maintain their professional registration. Types of accredited postgraduate qualification (part-time) in Pharmacy Practice available for hospital pharmacists are Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert, year 1), Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip, year 2), Master of Science (MSc year 3), and Professional Doctorate in Pharmacy programme (DPharm, 4-5 years or more). Clinical pharmacy diploma is more likely to become a minimum qualification in order to progress whilst working for the NHS. Pharmacy independent prescribers are allowed to prescribe all medications except cocaine, dipipanone, and diamorphine for the purpose of treating addiction within their competencies. NHS pharmacists are also classified by band point system depending on their practical/clinical knowledge and skills which starting from band 5 (Pre-registration pharmacist) up to band 9. Various learning and development options are also offered including teaching sessions, conferences and local forums.

Unity, understanding our pharmacist pharmacy education and training and their ecosystems rather then overwrite the system will get you ready to integrate and balance searching for contacts. Since 2015 we started the 6-year pharmacy education in the North were already carried out (the current 5.5 years). This chemist (or pharmacist) educate university education and vocational school and health officials made in the training school in jimyeo. Duration of each is to the University of 5.5 years, college three years, health officer training school two years and various types of training methods (weekly, communication, special) is applied is positive. License test system is also in favor of the state graduation test graduation test committee of professors in the university college diploma than the national notification system, and pharmacists ‘qualifications’ - are licensed is granted. The North Korean education system pharmacists and pharmacist review and analysis test system for the future reunification of Korea oriented education system pharmacists and pharmacists in health care personnel office systems through correct understanding and awareness-will be a useful resource integration plan designed to pharmacists.

Background: 8,000 children in North Korea died before they reached the 1 year after births in 2013. The high mortality rate of children under five years of age is mainly caused by infectious diseases and malnutrition. The need for national pediatric immunization and supply of vaccines will be vital when the abrupt reunification occurs. Objective: The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the pediatric immunization coverage of North Korea. Additionally it is to estimate the amount and the costs needed to vaccinate. Methods: The target population is the children of North Korea. The method is based on a pre-survey and an interview of North Korea defectors. The target interviewees searched for are as follows; doctors, teachers, and others. The interview includes questions on mortality rates and immunization coverage. The analysis is largely based on the statements of the health care providers within the selected group. Results: The interviewees are 8; 7 female and 1 male. The birth years range from 1956 to 1982. 3 out of 8 are former health care providers; a doctor, a pharmacist, and a nurse. The morbidity rate of infectious diseases exceeds the data from WHO. The immunization coverage is nearly 0% after 1980s. In order to ensure the welfare of North Korean children, at least 8,234,000 vaccine doses, requiring over 105 million U.S. dollars, are needed. Conclusion: The morbidity rate of infectious disease in North Korea is conspicuous. The preparation for supply and expenditure of vaccines is vital.

Backgrounds: Patient counseling has been forced since June. 19, 2014. Prior to this, there was no study to try to standardize medication counseling to improve quality. Purpose: This study was to investigate satisfaction level and comprehension level between the pharmacist group and the patient group about standardized medication counseling sheet. Methods: Questionnaires to assess standardized patient counseling sheet were posted at online survey software (Qualtrics) to pharmacists who worked at community pharmacy and patients who had visited community pharmacy before. Results: Three hundred thirty five patients and three hundred nineteen pharmacists were responded to the questionnaire (Response rate: 72.9%). More than half of each group were satisfied with standardized medication counseling sheets ‘for the general public’, ‘for the pregnant women and nursing mothers’, ‘for the chronic patient’, and ‘for the aged’ and patient group were more satisfied than pharmacist group. Similarly, more than half of each group comprehended with the medication counseling sheets ‘for the general public’, ‘for the pregnant women and nursing mothers’, ‘for the chronic patient’, and ‘for the aged’. Patient group tended to expect longer patient counseling time per one drug than pharmacist group. Also, the majority of both groups wanted to provide standardized medication counseling sheets constantly and extend for all drugs. Conclusion: Both groups were satisfied and comprehended standardized medication counseling sheets, and agreed to expand standardized medication counseling sheets to all drugs. So, it is necessary to build the standardized medication counseling of all drugs.

Background: Pharmacy schools newly adopted a 6-year program strengthening clinical knowledge since 2011 in Korea. The clinical training under the guidance of preceptors at hospital sites is a requisite for pharmacy students during the last year of undergraduate course. It has been rarely studied on the hospital pharmacists’ perspective regarding being a preceptor or teaching pharmacy students. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the hospital pharmacists’ intention toward student training and to identify the relevant factors among the individual pharmacists’ characteristics and working environment within the theoretical frame of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Method: A mail-survey was conducted for pharmacists working in tertiary hospitals in Seoul and Incheon. The survey questionnaire consisting of 131 questions with a 5-likert scale was developed for investigating pharmacists’ attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and the intention to teach pharmacy students as well as other demographic variables. To estimate the construct validity of components, factor analysis was conducted and Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to estimate the reliability of the observed variables. Statistical analyses of one-way variance analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed using SPSS 18.0. Results: The survey response rate was 53% (116/210) and the three constructs of attitude (r = .519), subjective norm (r = .233) and perceived control (r = .392) have appropriate correlations with the intention, proving the appropriateness of using the TPB model. Pharmacists working in inpatient (mean = 3.45) and outpatient clinics (mean = 3.34) generally showed positive intention for teaching. The attitude (β = .432, p < 0.01) and perceived control (β = .270, p < .01) constructs were significant predictors of the intention. Both age (r = 0.246, p = 0.017) and length of career (r = 0.310, p = 0.002) were positively related with the perceived control. Conclusion: Hospital pharmacists showed generally positive intention to provide student training in spite of the concern on their limited perceived behavioral control. Future research to find the actual barriers pharmacists faced in educating students need to be conducted.

Background & Object: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes ankylosis and deformation of axial joints. Since current medicine cannot cure the disease yet, alleviating pain and preventing deformation with medications are the main therapy for patients with AS. The key medications for these purposes include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitors. This study aims to analyze prescribing patterns of AS patients in South Korea. Method: National Patients Sample data compiled by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service from 2013 was analyzed. Patients with AS were identified with Korean Standard Classification of Diseases code-6, which was M45. The rates of prescription, discontinuation, and switching ingredients were calculated for each medication during 2013. Results: Total number of patients was 655, and most of them were male (n = 514, 78.5%). Of all age groups, the proportion of 30-40 year old patients was the greatest (35.1%). The most utilized drug class was NSAIDs (82.4%). Less than half of patients were prescribed TNF-α inhibitors (n = 212, 32.4%). Meloxicam, aceclofenac, and celecoxib were the most frequently prescribed NSAIDs. In case of TNF-α inhibitors, adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab were the top three most prescribed drugs. Although not recommended by the current practice guideline, significant proportions of patients were identified using disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Conclusion: Considering the current practice guideline and previous studies about the efficacy, the use of DMARDs should be reduced and medical insurance term in South Korea should be re-examined.

Objectives: The present study assessed the prevalence of the potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use in Korean elderly patients with Parkinson’s disease. In addition, this study examined risk factors that affect PIM use. Method: A retrospective, observational study was conducted using Korean National Health Insurance claims database of 2009. PIM use in Parkinson’s disease patients aged 65 years or older was examined based on 2012 Beers Criteria. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify risk factors for PIM use. Results: Among 5,277 elderly patients with Parkinson’s disease, 88.9% of patients used PIM(s) at least once. The average number of PIM items used per patient was 4.2. PIM use ratio, the proportion of total amount of PIMs to all medications per patient, was 12.6%. Frequently used PIM therapeutic classes were benzodiazepines (32.7%), firstgeneration antihistamines (19.2%), and prokinetics (17.5%). Individual PIMs most commonly used included chlorpheniramine (11.4%), levosulpiride (10.9%), diazepam (9.0%), and alprazolam (7.6%). Women (odds ratio [OR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.16), medical aid (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.15-1.21), and long-term facilities (OR 2.43, 95% CI 2.22- 2.65) were shown to be risk factors associated with PIM use. Of particular, wide variation in PIM use was associated with the types of healthcare facility. Conclusion: The PIM prevalence was very high in elderly Parkinson’s disease patients. Nationally effective and systematic efforts to identify and prevent PIM use should be made to ensure patient safety and to improve quality of care in the elderly.

Background: The over-prescription of acid-suppressive therapy for the provision of stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) in hospitalized patients has been identified in a proceeding study. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate clinicians' beliefs, knowledge and other factors that influence the over-prescribing of SUP in low-risk, non-intensive care unit (non-ICU) patients. Method: A cross-sectional survey consisting of multiple-choice queries and close-ended questions was distributed to healthcare personnel at a major teaching hospital in Korea. Results: More than half of total respondents reported that they would continue SUP following patients discharge from the ICU (77.8%, 43.5%, and 39.7% in the physician, pharmacist, and nurse groups, respectively). Over 55% of physicians would also initiate non-ICU patients on SUP upon hospital admission, and 42.6% of physicians would even continue prophylaxis post hospital discharge. The mean knowledge score regarding SUP indications and side effects was higher in pharmacists compared to physicians and nurses (12.44, 7.40, and 7.28, respectively; p<0.001). High-prescribing behavior was associated with a prescriber's belief that SUP is effective for preventing bleeding (odds ratio 7.40; 95% confidence interval 1.57 to 31.94; p=0.012). Low knowledge score and computerized order set also showed statistically significant association with the overutilization of SUP.

Objective: Codeine may result in death or respiratory depression in children, particularly who are rapid metabolizer of CYP2D6, therefore it should be used cautiously among children under 12 years of age. This study was to investigate the prescribing pattern of codeine among children according to the age group, prescribed diagnosis, type of medical service and medical specialties. Method: We used Korea Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Patient Sample (HIRA-NPS) database. Study subjects included inpatients or outpatients, who were prescribed codeine between January, 1, 2011 and December, 31, 2011. Contraindicated use of codeine was defined as the use of codeine at least one times under aged 12. Age groups were subclassified according to the <2 years, 2-4 years, 5-8 years, and 9-11 years. Frequently prescribed diagnosis (ICD-10), type of medical service, and medical specialties were also described among codeine users under aged 12. Results: Codeine users were 6,411 inpatients (9,958 prescriptions), and 3,397 outpatients (6,258 prescriptions), respectively. Codeine prescription under 12 years of age were 2.1% (210 prescriptions) among inpatients, and 12.3% (776 prescriptions) among outpatients (p-value<0.05). Outpatient prescriptions of codeine under 12 aged were issued mostly from primary care clinics and frequent diagnosis were unspecified bronchopneumonia (51.6%), and vasomotor rhinitis (23.7%). Conclusion: This study found prescribing of codeine under 12 aged is common in outpatient and primary clinics. Nationwide and community-based efforts should be needed to reduce inappropriate prescribing among children.

Objectives: To suggest direction for improving policies by understanding current management of narcotics or psychotropic drugs and analyzing their distributions and usage. Method: We conducted a comparison analysis between health insurance claims and the amount supplied to health care institutions for narcotics or psychotropic drugs through health insurance claims data and drug distribution supply data from 2010 to 2012 collected from Korea Pharmaceutical Information Service Center (KPIS). Furthermore, we carried out literature investigation and online search to comprehend the current management of narcotics drugs in Korea. Results: The amount supplied to medical institutions for all drugs in 2012 was 19.4 trillion won, which increased from 19.5 trillion in 2011 by 0.54%. For narcotic drugs, the amount supplied was 318.4 billion won in 2011 and increased to 335.1 billion won by 5.3% in 2012, which exceeded the rate of increase for the amount supplied for all drugs. The proportion of amount claimed in the total amount supplied to medical institutions for all drugs was 60.5% in 2012, whereas the proportion of amount claimed for narcotic drugs was 55.6%, which showed that narcotic drugs were used relatively less within health insurance. Furthermore, management of the current domestic distribution supply data focuses on manufacturing and medical institution supply stages. Conclusion: Hereafter, the management of narcotics or psychotropic drugs needs to be improved by reinforcing active monitoring in optimal prescription and usage in patients by collecting and analyzing information on drug usage of patients.

Objective: This experiment is to study how elderly group and their various lifestyles interact with health functional foods, according to their selection behavior. Different lifestyles will be observed closely, as well as how different health conditions and consumer involvements will affect critical decision making in selecting health functional foods. Method: Theories and discoveries from original advanced research were compared parallel to the new study. Results: First, cluster analysis and exploratory analysis were performed amongst different elder lifestyles. Lifestyle exploratory analysis was used for healthy, unique, leisure, and economicalstyle elders. Cluster analysis was used for material trend oriented, health oriented, complacent oriented-style elders. Health Functional Foods' selection trait Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that product's originality (function, uniqueness, specialty, compatibility, distributor, expiration date), quality (amount, daily dose, visual representation, accessibility, portability, natural ingredients), and popularity (product container, brand image, taste and smell, advertised product, domestic or import, well-known function) were the three main causes. Secondly, the amount of benefits for the elderly group health lifestyle were affected by 'Interest in health', 'Notability of the health functional food', and 'Functionality approved mark'. Specifically, the importance of, 'Interest in health', 'Notability of health functional food', and 'Functionality approved mark' were noticeably high within health oriented elders. Lastly, after examining the data from elder lifestyle's relationship with health functional food selection trait, all three different results showed equal importance. If you closely examine material trend oriented elderly group, selection trait showed distinctively high regards in 'Fundamental Attribute', 'Typical Attribute', and 'Cognitive Attribute'. Health oriented elders showed their distinctively high regards in 'Natural Attribute', and less consideration in 'Typical Attribute' and 'Cognitive Attribute'. Complacent oriented-style elderly group showed less focus on 'Fundamental Attribute', and even less in 'Typical Attribute', and 'Cognitive Attribute'. Health oriented elderly group concluded with above data from the fact that they showed most importance and involvement in health beneficial products that are scientifically proven. Material trend oriented elderly group showed balanced traits in their concluded data, showing that they prefer function, safety, as well as the brand image and their reputation. Also, they consider the products' outer elements, such as design and product name, in order to sense inner functions. Conclusion: So, Silver Business corporations must develop products to fulfill the market demands, and strategize marketing plans to better target the correct audience.