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It is well known that one of the most accessible health providers are community pharmacists; hence, their role in sanitarian programs should not be neglected. Although they were not present in the first pilot trial of the Hungarian Health Planning Application (HHPA) made by the National Healthcare Services Center, they were involved in the latter phases of the personal health planning program. The aim was the detailed assessment of the HHPA, with regard to the newly introduced online form. The HHPA is a software designed to identify health risks and help in the health planning and management of the risks. The present study was started in the 2016/2017 academic year, and the enrollment of citizens was carried out by resident pharmacists, who had received additional training on the software and primary (and tertiary) prevention. The resident pharmacists also filled two opinion survey questionnaires, one at the beginning of the study and one after the study period. Seventy-five pharmacists enrolled 594 citizens. At the 190 participants who enrolled by online application, the drop-out rate was similar to the personal way. The main four risks that were identified in the study were the risk of an inactive lifestyle (47.8%), weight problems (38.7%), risk of diabetes mellitus (26.9%), and cardiovascular risks (25.3%). About the project, the majority of the pharmacists thought that it was a useful project. Highlighted supporting factors were colleges in the pharmacies that were very encouraging; however, factors such as long risk-assessment or the non-cooperation of the other healthcare providers were discouraging. The personal health planning program is a favorable initiative for identifying health risks and determining health plans. Furthermore, the used software seems to be same effective as personal way, but more suitable in the present pandemic situation.

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OBJECTIVE: The study examined the Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) of patients with polypharmacy in 78 Hungarian community pharmacies, especially the interaction risks in terms of their clinical severity. Also, the objective was to analyze pharmacists' interventions to solve the identified interaction risks. METHODOLOGY: The research was carried out in the framework of the training of specialist pharmacists at Semmelweis University, with the participation of 78 graduated pharmacists with the collaboration of 98 GPs. A total of 755 patients participated in pharmaceutical counseling which meant a medication review process. DRPs were uniformly categorized and the interventions were recorded by pharmacists, while a detailed analysis of interaction risks was performed by authors. RESULTS: A total of 984 DRPs were registered. The most common category of DRPs was the "non-quantitative safety problems" (62.6%). Interaction risk was the most common cause of DRPs (54.0%). The highest proportion of interaction risks were between two prescription drugs (66.7%). In 30.7% of interaction risks' cases, there was not known negative outcome. In contrast, it was recommended to modify the therapy in 14.9% of interaction risks. Acetylsalicylic acid (22.8%), acenocoumarol (17.7%), and diclofenac (13.9%) were the most common active substances which caused serious interaction risks. A total of 599 pharmacist interventions were used to solve the 531 interaction risks. Pharmacists notified the GPs about the problem in 28.4% of cases and they intervened without the GP in 63.1% of cases, most often with patient education (27.4%). CONCLUSION: Medication review by community pharmacists is required for the safe medicine using of patients with polypharmacy, as a significant number of DRPs have been recorded. The incidence of interaction risks stood out. It is essential to develop a pharmaceutical guideline to properly classify the clinical relevance of interaction risks (e.g. according to high-risk active substances) and to increase the collaboration with GPs.

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OBJECTIVES: The research aimed to support the effectiveness and necessity of the communication training and methodology introduced in the postgraduate pharmacy training and community pharmacy practice in Hungary. DESIGN: Two cross-sectional questionnaire surveys before and after the introduction of a methodological recommendation. SETTING: 69 Hungarian community pharmacies. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 333 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from community pharmacies, 890 and 847 patients (over 18 who bought their prescribed medication) at the beginning and the end of the project, respectively. INTERVENTIONS: A 3-day postgraduate health literacy-focused communication training followed by the 'Train the trainer' teaching method at pharmacies, then the introduction of the learnt methodology using uniform information materials and a communication checklist. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary: total score of the staff and patient questionnaires and the change in score due to the intervention, total and for each question. Secondary: the differences between sexes, age groups, marital statuses, educational attainments and types of settlement. RESULTS: The mean score of the preintervention patient group was 64.07% which increased to 72.72% by the end of the project (p<0.001). For staff, the mean score of the initial questionnaires was 74.47%, and that of the final questionnaires was 85.21% (p<0.001). According to both groups, professionals made the most progress in encouraging patients to ask questions. CONCLUSIONS: It can be stated that the presented methodology can be used to develop the communication skills of a large number of professionals in a short time, using a small number of instructors, so it is worthwhile to introduce this methodology as part of compulsory postgraduate training.

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BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical care is the pharmacist's contribution to the care of individuals to optimize medicines use and improve health outcomes. The primary tool of pharmaceutical care is medication review. Defining and classifying Drug-Related Problems (DRPs) is an essential pillar of the medication review. Our objectives were to perform a pilot of medication review in Hungarian community pharmacies, a DRP classification was applied for the first time. Also, our goal was the qualitative and quantitative description of the discovered DRPs, and of the interventions for their solution in order to prove the safety relevance of the service and to map out the competence limits of GPs and community pharmacists to drug therapy. METHODS: The project took place in Hungarian community pharmacies. The study was performed with patients taking vitamin K antagonist (VKA) and/or ACE inhibitor and NSAID simultaneously (ACEI-NSAID). 61 pharmacists and 606 patients participated in the project. Pharmacists reviewed the medication for 3 months and the classification of DRPs was performed (category of DRP1 - DRP6). Patient data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Patients consumed on average 7.9 ± 3.1 medications and other products. 571 DRPs were detected in 540 patients, averaging 1.06 DRPs per patient (SD = 1.07). The highest frequency category was DRP5 (non-quantitative safety problem; 51.0%). The most common root cause was an interaction (42.0%) and non-adherence (19.4%.). The most commonly used intervention was education (25.4%) and medication replacement by the pharmacist (20.1%). The changing of the frequency and dosage in any direction were negligible. CONCLUSIONS: Patients are struggling with many DRPs that can be assessed and categorized by this system and which remain unrecognizable without pharmacists. Further projects need to be developed to assist in the development of physician-pharmacist cooperation and the widespread dissemination of pharmaceutical care.

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Lipoic acid, the biomolecule of vital importance following glycolysis, shows diversity in its thiol/disulfide equilibria and also in its eight different protonation forms of the reduced molecule. In this paper, lipoic acid, lipoamide, and their dihydro derivatives were studied to quantify their solubility, acid-base, and lipophilicity properties at a submolecular level. The acid-base properties are characterized in terms of six macroscopic, 12 microscopic protonation constants, and three interactivity parameters. The species-specific basicities, the pH-dependent distribution of the microspecies, and lipophilicity parameters are interpreted by various intramolecular effects, and contribute to understanding the antioxidant, chelate-forming, and enzyme cofactor behavior of the molecules observed.

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