Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the participants
| Characteristics | Total N = 499 n (%) | With DRPs n=246 n (%) | Non-DRPs n=253 n (%) |
P value (DRPs VS non-DRPs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 291 (58.32) | 141 (57.32) | 150 (59.29) | 0.716 |
| Male | 208 (41.68) | 105 (42.68) | 103 (40.71) | |
| Age (years) (Mean ± SD) | 63.69 ± 12.97 | |||
| ≤ 65 | 253 (50.70) | 121 (49.19) | 132 (52.17) | 0.531 |
| ≥ 65 | 246 (49.30) | 125 (50.81) | 121 (47.83) | |
| Number of chronic conditions | ||||
| (Mean ± SD) | 1.9 ± 0.90 | |||
| One | 194 (38.88) | 83 (33.74) | 111 (43.87) | 0.012∗ |
| Two | 190 (38.08) | 95 (38.62) | 95 (37.55) | |
| Three | 91 (18.24) | 49 (19.92) | 42 (16.60) | |
| Four | 18 (3.61) | 14 (5.69) | 4 (1.58) | |
| Five | 6 (1.20) | 5 (2.03) | 1 (0.40) | |
| Chronic conditions | ||||
| Hypertension | ||||
| Yes | 335 (67.13) | 167 (67.89) | 168 (66.40) | 0.775 |
| No | 164 (32.87) | 79 (32.11) | 85 (33.60) | |
| Diabetes mellitus | ||||
| Yes | 166 (33.27) | 94 (38.21) | 72 (28.46) | 0.023a |
| No | 333 (66.73) | 152 (61.79) | 181 (71.54) | |
| Dyslipidemia | ||||
| Yes | 121 (24.25) | 77 (31.30) | 44 (17.39) | <0.0001a |
| No | 378 (75.75) | 169 (68.70) | 209 (82.61) | |
| Chronic kidney disease | ||||
| Yes | 93 (18.64) | 37 (15.04) | 56 (22.13) | 0.05 a |
| No | 406 (81.36) | 209 (84.96) | 197 (77.87) | |
| Asthma | ||||
| Yes | 43 (8.62) | 19 (7.72) | 24 (9.49) | 0.526 |
| No | 456 (91.38) | 227 (92.28) | 229 (90.51) | |
| Polypharmacy | ||||
| No polypharmacy (< 5) | 274 (54.91) | 125 (50.81) | 149 (58.89) | 0.073 |
| Polypharmacy (≥5) | 225 (45.09) | 121 (49.19) | 104 (41.11) | |
| Education level | ||||
| No education | 76 (15.23) | 43 (17.48) | 33 (13.04) | 0.044 a |
| Elementary school | 303 (60.72) | 154 (62.60) | 149 (58.89) | |
| Junior high school | 47 (9.42) | 14 (5.69) | 33 (13.04) | |
| Senior high school | 50 (10.02) | 22 (8.94) | 28 (11.07) | |
| Bachelor’s degree | 20 (4.01) | 12 (4.88) | 8 (3.16) | |
| Postgraduate degree | 1 (0.20) | 0 (0.00) | 1 (0.40) | |
| Others | 2 (0.40) | 1 (0.41) | 1 (0.4) | |
| Occupation | ||||
| No occupation | 243 (48.70) | 127 (51.63) | 116 (45.85) | 0.392 |
| Employee | 71 (14.23) | 27 (10.98) | 44 (17.39) | |
| Agriculturist | 137 (27.45) | 66 (26.83) | 71 (28.06) | |
| Business | 23 (4.61) | 13 (5.28) | 10 (3.95) | |
| Government official | 12 (2.40) | 6 (2.44) | 6 (2.37) | |
| Others | 13 (2.6) | 7 (2.85) | 6 (2.38) | |
| The participants received a comprehensive list of their prescription drugs | 486 (97.39) | 234 (95.12 | 252 (99.60) | 0.2 |
| Drug-delivery channel | ||||
| Primary care pharmacist | 2 (0.40) | 0 (0.00) | 2 (0.79) | 0.013 a |
| Mail carriers | 14 (2.81) | 2 (0.81) | 12 (4.74) | |
| Nurses from local clinics | 162 (32.46) | 89 (36.18) | 73 (28.85) | |
| Community volunteers | 316 (63.33) | 152 (61.79) | 164 (64.82) | |
| Others | 5 (1.0) | 2 (0.81) | 2 (0.79) | |
| If the COVID-19 continues to spread, how would the patients like to receive home drug-delivery channel? | ||||
| Hospital pharmacist (standard before COVID-19) | 82 (16.43) | 34 (13.82) | 48 (18.97) | 0.316 |
| Mail carriers | 10 (2.00) | 4 (1.63) | 6 (2.37) | |
| Nurses from local clinics | 152 (30.46) | 75 (30.49) | 77 (30.43) | |
| Community volunteers | 251 (50.30) | 129 (52.44) | 122 (48.22) | |
| Others | 4 (0.80) | 4 (1.63) | 0 (0.00) | |
Abbreviations used: DRP, drug related problem.
a
P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant (DRPs VS non-DRPs).