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OBJECTIVE: To assess prescription of oncology medications in municipal public health network of Rosario for its appropriateness to clinical practice guidelines. METHODS: Descriptive pharmacoepidemiological study in adult patients in an Oncology Service between January and June 2012. Compliance requirements with clinical practice guidelines were evaluated. RESULTS: 51.8% of diagnoses had at least one prescription medication that did not match recommendation by at least one of the guides considered. Prescriptions of doxorrubicine and ifosfamide did not agree with the recommendation of any reference guides. 5.4% of prescriptions weren´t considered by local guides, nor 7.7% by national on es. Regarding comparison with international guidelines: 4.2% of prescriptions weren ´t considered by the European Society for Medical Oncology guidelines, 2.3% not considered by the American Cancer Society and only 1.9% were not considered by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network ones. CONCLUSIONS: Prescription of oncology treatments is closer to international reference guides. One reason could be that there is still no standard definition in the management of tumor diseases by the National State.

Objetivo: Evaluar la prescripción de medicamentos oncológicos de la Red de Salud Pública Municipal de Rosario según su adecuación las guías de práctica clínica. Método: Estudio farmacoepidemiológico descriptivo en pacientes adultos en un Servicio Oncológico. Enero-junio 2012. Se evaluó la adecuación de las prescripciones a las guías de práctica clínica de referencia. Resultados: El 51,8 % de los diagnósticos tuvo al menos un medicamento prescripto que no coincidía con lo recomendado por al menos una de las guías consideradas. Las prescripciones de doxorrubicina e ifosfamida no coincidieron con lo recomendado por ninguna guía. El 5,4% de las prescripciones no estaban consideradas en las guías locales, el 7,7% no lo estaban en las nacionales y, respecto de las internacionales, el 4,2 % no estaban consideradas en la European Society for Medical Oncology, el 2,3% por el American Cancer Society y solo el 1,9% por la National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Conclusiones: La prescripción de oncológicos se adecúa más a las guías internacionales. Podría deberse a que no existe aún una definición estándar en el manejo de las patologías tumorales por parte del Estado Nacional.

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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the supply cycle of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, overseen by the National Program to Combat Human Retroviruses, AIDS, and STDs, through its order fulfillment indicators, and to obtain input from supply chain stakeholders. METHODS: A study was carried out from April-September 2005 in the pharmacies of two hospitals in Rosario, Argentina, involving both a quantitative analysis of indicators and secondary sources and a qualitative evaluation using semistructured interviews. RESULTS: The indicators reveal the impact that interruptions in ARV supply stream from the Program (central level) have and the overstocking that takes place at the pharmacies (local level) to manage the shortages. Changes in ARV treatment account for over 50% of the prescriptions. Fulfillments fall short of the reference value. The interviewees shared possible strategies for overcoming the communication gaps between levels, for building-up stock, for guaranteeing availability, and for shortening waiting times; reached informal agreements to deal with the lack of policies and the shortage of staff; acknowledged the challenges facing the jurisdictions (central, intermediate, and local/community); and recognized local efforts to improve management. CONCLUSIONS: These challenges could be the starting point for building teams to work on effectively decentralizing the entire supply chain and allowing the Program to fulfill its much-needed oversight role.

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OBJETIVOS: Evaluar el circuito de suministro de antirretrovirales (ARV) dentro del Programa Nacional de Lucha contra los Retrovirus del Humano, SIDA y ETS, mediante indicadores de desempeño, y recuperar la perspectiva de actores involucrados en el circuito de provisión. Se busca mejorar las acciones programáticas satisfaciendo las necesidades de los pacientes. MÉTODOS: En el servicio de farmacia de dos hospitales de Rosario, Argentina, de abril a septiembre de 2005 se llevó a cabo una investigación evaluativa con un abordaje cuantitativo, mediante indicadores y basado en fuentes secundarias, y otro cualitativo, con entrevistas semiestructuradas. RESULTADOS: Los indicadores revelan el impacto de las interrupciones en la provisión de ARV desde el Programa (nivel central) y la acumulación de stock en el nivel local para paliar esas faltas. Los cambios de tratamiento con ARV representan más de 50 por ciento de las prescripciones. El cumplimiento en el retiro de ARV se aleja del valor de referencia. Los entrevistados describieron estrategias alternativas para superar dificultades de comunicación entre niveles, acumular stock, garantizar disponibilidad y acortar tiempos de espera; se establecieron acuerdos informales ante la falta de normativas y la escasez de recursos humanos; las instancias jurisdiccionales (central, intermedia y local o municipal) suman dificultades, y se reconocen esfuerzos del nivel local para mejorar la gestión. CONCLUSIONES: Estos hallazgos pueden ser el punto de partida para la construcción de propuestas que involucren equipos de trabajo afectados en el circuito de provisión en su totalidad, a fin de lograr una descentralización efectiva, en congruencia con el papel rector que le corresponde necesariamente al Programa.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the supply cycle of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, overseen by the National Program to Combat Human Retroviruses, AIDS, and STDs, through its order fulfillment indicators, and to obtain input from supply chain stakeholders. METHODS: A study was carried out from AprilSeptember 2005 in the pharmacies of two hospitals in Rosario, Argentina, involving both a quantitative analysis of indicators and secondary sources and a qualitative evaluation using semistructured interviews. RESULTS: The indicators reveal the impact that interruptions in ARV supply stream from the Program (central level) have and the overstocking that takes place at the pharmacies (local level) to manage the shortages. Changes in ARV treatment account for over 50 percent of the prescriptions. Fulfillments fall short of the reference value. The interviewees shared possible strategies for overcoming the communication gaps between levels, for building-up stock, for guaranteeing availability, and for shortening waiting times; reached informal agreements to deal with the lack of policies and the shortage of staff; acknowledged the challenges facing the jurisdictions (central, intermediate, and local/community); and recognized local efforts to improve management. CONCLUSIONS: These challenges could be the starting point for building teams to work on effectively decentralizing the entire supply chain and allowing the Program to fulfill its much-needed oversight role.

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OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a questionnaire, in Spanish, for assessing patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical care received in community pharmacies. DESIGN: Selection and translation of questionnaire's items; definition of response scale and demographic questions. Evaluation of face and content validity, feasibility, factor structure, reliability and construct validity. SETTING: Forty-one community pharmacies of the province of Santa Fe. Argentina. PARTICIPANTS: Questionnaire administered to patients receiving pharmaceutical care or traditional pharmacy services. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Pilot test to assess feasibility. Factor analysis used principal components and varimax rotation. Reliability established using internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity determined with extreme group method. RESULTS: A self-administered questionnaire with 27 items, 5-point Likert response scale and demographic questions was designed considering multidimensional structure of patient satisfaction. Questionnaire evaluates cumulative experience of patients with comprehensive pharmaceutical care practice in community pharmacies. Two hundred and seventy-four complete questionnaires were obtained. Factor analysis resulted in three factors: Managing therapy, Interpersonal relationship and General satisfaction, with a cumulative variance of 62.51%. Cronbach's alpha for the whole questionnaire was 0.96, and 0.95, 0.88 and 0.76 for the three factors, respectively. Mann-Whitney test for construct validity did not showed significant differences between pharmacies that provide pharmaceutical care and those that do not, however, 23 items showed significant differences between the two groups of pharmacies. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire developed can be a reliable and valid instrument to assess patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical care in community pharmacies in Spanish. Further research is needed to deepen the validation process.

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AIM OF THE REVIEW: The purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate instruments used to assess patient satisfaction with pharmacy services available in the Spanish language, and specifically those designed to assess pharmaceutical care provided in community pharmacies. METHOD: A literature search was conducted in seven databases, using keywords: "patient satisfaction" and "Spanish" with and without the term "pharmacy". Publications that described the development or translation and/or adaptation of a questionnaire to assess patient satisfaction with pharmacy services in the Spanish language were retained. Publications were excluded if they were abstracts from conferences, reviews, letters or notes. The criteria used also excluded manuscripts where patient satisfaction was not assessed with a questionnaire. Instruments were evaluated according to evidence of the psychometric properties considered relevant: content validity, reliability and construct validity. RESULTS: While 83 publications describing instruments to measure patient satisfaction with health care services in the Spanish language were identified, only two pertained to satisfaction with pharmacy services. Both assessed patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical care. One questionnaire, developed in Spanish only, includes four dimensions that comprehensively assessed pharmaceutical care practice; however, its reliability was only partially evaluated. The other questionnaire was developed in both Spanish and English. It was considered narrower in scope, assessing satisfaction with the pharmacist only. However, evidence was provided that the two versions of the questionnaire were reliable, valid and linguistically equivalent. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical care in community pharmacies in the Spanish language is not yet available. The two published questionnaires that we have identified are a beginning, further research and development is needed.

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