LaCivita, Cynthia L.Funkhouser, Ellen M.Miller, Michael J.Ray, Midge N.Saag, Kenneth G.Kiefe, Catarina I.Cobaugh, Daniel J.Allison, Jeroan J.2022-08-232022-08-232010-08-282011-01-07J Am Pharm Assoc. 2009 Sep-Oct;49(5):e110-7. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1331/JAPhA.2009.09005">Link to article on publisher's site</a>1086-5802 (Linking)10.1331/JAPhA.2009.0900520797933https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/47766OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of patient-pharmacy staff communication about medications for pain and arthritis and to assess disparities in communication by demographic, socioeconomic, and health indicators. DESIGN: Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Alabama between 2005 and 2007. PATIENTS: 687 Patients participating in the Alabama NSAID Patient Safety Study (age >or=50 years and currently taking a prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug [NSAID]). INTERVENTION: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Communication with pharmacy staff about prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs was examined before and after adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic, and health indicators. RESULTS: For the entire cohort (n = 687), mean (+/-SD) age was 68.3 +/- 10.0 years, 72.8% were women, 36.4% were black, and 31.2% discussed use of prescription pain/arthritis medications with pharmacy staff. Discussing use of prescription pain/arthritis medications with pharmacy staff differed by race/gender (P < 0.001): white men (40.3%), white women (34.6%), black men (30.2%), and black women (19.8%). Even after multivariable adjustment, black women had the lowest odds of discussing their medications with pharmacy staff (odds ratio 0.40 [95% CI 0.24-0.56]) compared with white men. For the 63.0% of participants with recently overlapping prescription and OTC NSAID use, communication with pharmacy staff about OTC NSAIDs use was only 13.7% and did not vary significantly by race/gender group. CONCLUSION: Given the complex risks and benefits of chronic NSAID use, pharmacists, pharmacy staff, and patients all are missing an important opportunity to avoid unsafe prescribing and decrease medication adverse events.en-USAfrican AmericansAlabama*Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidaleffectsArthritis*CommunicationCross-Sectional StudiesDrug ToxicityEuropean Continental Ancestry GroupFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNonprescription DrugsPain*Pharmacies*PharmacistsPrescription Drugs*Professional-Patient RelationsRisk AssessmentBioinformaticsBiostatisticsEpidemiologyHealth Services ResearchJournal Articlehttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/qhs_pp/8851721356qhs_pp/885