Pharmacists' communication skills lead to reduced drug prescriptions by doctors

Tsukuba, Japan—Polypharmacy is a condition that increases the risk of side effects and drug-drug interactions due to the use of more medications than necessary. In particular, older adults, who tend to have multiple medical conditions, may end up taking more medications. Therefore, eliminating polypharmacy by optimizing prescribing—such as reducing the number of drugs and using alternative medications—is an urgent issue.

Pharmacists provide medications to patients based on prescriptions issued by physicians. During this process, they may suggest changes to prescriptions based on patient interviews, medical records, and laboratory test data to ensure safe drug treatment. However, communication with physicians does not always go smoothly. In such cases, optimizing prescriptions—such as reducing the number of medications—does not proceed effectively.

In this study, researchers surveyed pharmacists working in Japanese pharmacies. They evaluated their assertiveness (a communication style in which individuals express themselves frankly while respecting others). The study examined the relationship between assertiveness and whether the pharmacists had experienced a reduction in the number of medications due to their suggestions to physicians in the past year. Assertiveness was assessed in terms of three components: (1) nonassertive self-expression, which suppresses personal opinions; (2) aggressive self-expression, which imposes one's views; and (3) assertive self-expression, which encourages mutual understanding. The analysis showed that pharmacists with higher assertive self-expression experienced reductions in medication due to their suggestions. Nonassertive and aggressive expressions were not associated with such outcomes.

This study showed that pharmacists' assertiveness was linked to physicians' decisions to reduce prescribed medications. Assertiveness is considered a teachable communication skill. Future studies should explore whether pharmacists' assertiveness improves the safety of drug treatment for patients.

_{Original Paper}

Title of original paper:
Assertiveness in community pharmacists and their experience of pharmacist-led deprescribing: A cross-sectional study

Journal:
Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy

DOI:
10.1016/j.sapharm.2025.03.002

_{Correspondence}

Assistant Professor OZONE, Sachiko
Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba

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Institute of Medicine