Age and racial/ethnic differences in pharmacy consumer protective behaviors

According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices 2002 report, medication errors are a widespread but preventable adverse event. While many hospitals and pharmacies are working towards reducing medication errors, very few studies have focused on consumers' role in protecting themselves from such errors. Hence, the purpose of this observational study was to examine consumer protection behaviors against medication errors when picking up prescriptions from the pharmacy. Eleven hundred forty one observations were made in seven pharmacies of five retail pharmacy chains. Consumers from four cities in central Texas were observed over the course of four months (January to April 2008). The majority of the consumers were White (66%), females (69%), and between 20-29 years of age (33%). Overall, only 26% of consumers asked the pharmacist questions, 17% of consumers checked their medication bag, and 11% read the label prior to leaving the pharmacy. Twenty nine percent of pharmacists asked the consumers for clarifications, especially in the 30-39 & 60+ year age group and those of Asian ethnicity. Reading of prescription labels also varied by age and ethnicity; consumers who were between 20-29 years of age and Hispanics were more likely to read the medication label while picking up their prescription drugs. Logistic regression analysis indicated the following variables increased consumer protection behavior: pharmacists asking questions to consumers, a higher number of pharmacists working concurrently, and consumers who were accompanied by another person. The results have implications for consumer education and policies to improve safety practices.