Pharmaceutical services to People Living with HIV/AIDS in Drug Dispensing Units in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30968/jhphs.2026.172.1376Abstract
Objective: To characterize the clinical services provided by pharmacists to people living with HIV in antiretroviral dispensing pharmacies in Brazil. Methods: This was a cross-sectional web-based survey conducted between March and June 2022. Antiretroviral dispensing pharmacies were contacted using an open-access registry from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. A questionnaire was previously developed based on reference documents from the National Council of Municipal Health Secretariats and the Federal Council of Pharmacy and was sent by e-mail to the antiretroviral dispensing pharmacies, with questions regarding the provision of pharmaceutical services. Data were exported to Excel, coded, and analyzed using R software, version 4.5.0. Results: Of the 1,210 valid e-mails sent, 314 professionals responded to the questionnaire, resulting in a response rate of 26.0%. Most participants were pharmacists (n=288; 92.3%) and female (n=227; 72.8%), with a median age of 40.0 years and an interquartile range (IQR) of 33.0 to 46.0 years. Among nonpharmacist professionals, nurses predominated (n=15), followed by pharmacy attendants/assistants/pharmacy technicians (n=4) and physicians (n=2). The median length of professional experience was 13.0 years (IQR: 7.3–20.0). Regarding time working in antiretroviral dispensing pharmacies, the median was 3.0 years (IQR: 1.0–8.0). Dispensing was the most frequently offered clinical service provided by pharmacists in antiretroviral dispensing pharmacies (n=254; 80.9%), followed by health education (n=200; 63.7%) and health screening (n=186; 59.2%). Medicines reconciliation (n=133; 42.4%) and therapeutic drug monitoring (n=106; 33.8%) were the least frequently reported services. No statistically significant associations were observed between Brazilian region and the provision of the evaluated services, nor between service provision and respondents’ individual characteristics. Regarding service delivery frequency, medication dispensing was the most frequently provided service, occurring on all operating days in 266 responses (89.0%). Health education had the lowest proportion of daily provision (n=85; 44.0%) and the highest proportion of provision less than once a week (n=53; 27.5%). Some participants also reported additional services, such as pharmacist consultations, prescription of HIV pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis, rapid testing, and follow-up of coinfections. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of standardizing concepts to improve communication among health professionals, underscores the need for investment in professional training to strengthen pharmaceutical care, and indicates the relevance of future studies to further investigate these findings.
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