Electronically transmitted prescriptions not picked up at pharmacies in Sweden.
BACKGROUND
Electronically transmitted prescriptions (ETPs) became common after 1995 in Sweden; however, it is accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of prescriptions not picked up at pharmacies.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the "no pick-up" rates of ETPs at pharmacies across type of drug and patient age and gender and the reasons patients' report for no pick-up.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study examining no pick-up of ETPs transmitted during 3 months in 2002, and a mail survey of patients to determine the reasons for failure to pick-up in the county of Sörmland, Sweden, with a population of 261,000, and 21 pharmacies. Chi-square tests were used for calculations of frequency differences among groups.


RESULTS
The overall no pick-up rate of ETPs was 2.5%; men had consistently higher rates than women. The highest rates were seen for adolescents and young adults. Rates were higher than average for antibiotics. About 60% of the answers indicated that prescriptions not picked up were duplicate prescriptions or not needed. "Unintentional nonadherence" was reported by one-fifth of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
No pick-up rate in general was low (2.5%), but there were differences across patient age and gender, the rates being higher among adolescents and young adults. Duplicate prescriptions may explain a significant share of the abandoned prescriptions.
Ax
Fredrik
F
Apoteket Västerås Hospital EA, Västerås Central Hospital, SE-721 89 Västerås, Sweden.
Ekedahl
Anders
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D055695:Electronic Prescribing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D055553:Prescription Drugs