Patient characteristics
| Patient characteristics | Normal practice n (%) | New Medicine Service n (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total N (%) | 253 (100.0) | 251 (100.0) | ||
| Antiplatelet/anticoagulant (n=43, 8.5%) | 19 (7.5) | 24 (9.6) | ||
| Asthma /COPD (n=117, 23.2%) | 58 (22.9) | 59 (23.5) | ||
| Hypertension (n=249, 49.4%) | 128 (50.6) | 121 (48.2) | ||
| Type 2 diabetes (n=95, 18.8%) | 48 (19.0) | 47 (18.7) | ||
| Female (n=260, 51.6%) | 135 (53.4) | 125 (49.8) | ||
| Male (n=244, 48.4%) | 118 (46.6) | 126 (50.2) | ||
| Age of total cohort (years) (N: Mean (SD)) | 253: 59.3 (15.0) | 251: 59.5 (15.3) | ||
| Age (female) (years) (N: Mean (SD)) | 135: 58.7 (15.4) | 125: 56.8 (16.0) | ||
| Age (male) (years) (N: Mean (SD)) | 118: 60.0 (14.6) | 126: 62.2 (14.1) | ||
| No of NMS eligible new medicine(s) at study entry (n (%)) | Total NMS medicines: 257 | Total NMS medicines: 262 | ||
| 1 | 249 (98.4) | 241 (96.0) | ||
| 2 | 4 (1.6) | 9 (3.6) | ||
| 3 | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.4) | ||
| Mean (SD) number of other medicines | 3.6 (3.4) | 3.5 (3.4) | ||
| Most commonly prescribed medicines (% medicines prescribed in that disease category) | ||||
| Antiplatelet/anticoagulant | Aspirin | 10 (52.6) | Aspirin | 11 (45.8) |
| Clopidogrel | 7 (36.8) | Clopidogrel | 9 (37.5) | |
| Dipyridamole | 1 (5.3) | Dipyridamole | 1 (4.2) | |
| Warfarin | 1 (5.3) | Warfarin | 3 (12.5) | |
| Asthma/COPD | Salbutamol | 11 (18.0) | Salbutamol | 20 (30.8) |
| Beclometasone (Clenil) | 7 (11.5) | Beclometasone (Clenil) | 12 (18.5) | |
| Budesonide and formoterol (Symbicort) | 7 (11.5) | Tiotropium (Spiriva) | 10 (15.4) | |
| Tiotropium (Spiriva) | 7 (11.5) | Fluticasone and salmeterol (Seretide) | 6 (9.2) | |
| Formoterol and beclometasone (Fostair) | 6 (9.8) | Ipratropium | 5 (7.7) | |
| Hypertension | Amlodipine | 40 (30.8) | Amlodipine | 38 (30.2) |
| Ramipril | 29 (22.3) | Ramipril | 24 (19.0) | |
| Indapamide | 11 (8.5) | Losartan | 11 (8.7) | |
| Bisoprolol | 10 (7.7) | Bisoprolol | 10 (7.9) | |
| Losartan | 10 (7.7) | Indapamide | 10 (7.9) | |
| Type 2 diabetes | Metformin | 22 (44.9) | Metformin | 25 (53.2) |
| Gliclazide | 11 (22.4) | Gliclazide | 12 (25.5) | |
| Insulin (various) | 7 (14.3) | Sitagliptin | 5 (10.6) | |
| Sitagliptin | 5 (10.2) | Acarbose | 1 (2.1) | |
| Saxagliptin | 2 (4.1) | Insulin various | 2 (4.2) | |
| Economic deprivation based on IMD Score* (Mean (SD)) | ||||
| Pharmacy study sites | 30.7 (14.0) | 31.1 (13.6) | ||
| Study patients | 25.0 (15.0) | 24.2 (15.3) | ||
| Location of pharmacy study site (n (%) | ||||
| Derbyshire | 46 (18.2) | 55 (21.9) | ||
| South Yorkshire | 35 (13.8) | 31 (12.4) | ||
| Leicestershire | 15 (5.9) | 10 (4.0) | ||
| Nottinghamshire | 117 (46.2) | 114 (45.4) | ||
| Greater London | 40 (15.8) | 41 (16.3) | ||
| Pharmacy ownership† (n (%)) | ||||
| Independent | 65 (25.7) | 56 (22.3) | ||
| Large multiple | 63 (24.9) | 68 (29.1) | ||
| Small multiple | 122 (48.2) | 123 (49.0) | ||
| Supermarket | 3 (1.2) | 4 (1.6) | ||
*Economic Deprivation Index (Score)—Data from the Office of National Statistics was used to ascertain the deprivation index for each pharmacy using the postcode as the lookup reference.41 Data were collected for two variables: (1) IMD score and (ii) rank of IMD score. The IMD score is directly proportional to the level of deprivation (higher IMD score; higher level of deprivation) while the IMD rank is inversely proportional to the level of deprivation (lower IMD rank; higher level of deprivation). The Office of National Statistics data records the English deprivation scores as ranging from 0.5 to 87.8 and deprivation rank scores ranging from 1 to 32482.
†Definition of large multiples and supermarkets—the 10 largest pharmacy entities in England, Small multiples—pharmacies with six or more branches and Independents—pharmacies with one to five 5 branches.42
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IMD, Index of Multiple Deprivation; N, number; NMS, New Medicine Service.