How well do pharmacies serve teenagers? (FYI).

Pharmacists could be important providers of contraceptive information and supplies for teenagers, but many feel poorly trained to play this role. (1) Of nearly 1,000 pharmacists surveyed in Indiana, more than half said that they did not feel adequately trained to deal with adolescent-specific issues, and a similar proportion considered themselves inadequately versed in relevant confidentiality issues. Three in five respondents reported that adolescents rarely or never ask them about prescription medications, and two-thirds said that young people seldom, if ever, ask about medical devices, including home pregnancy tests and condoms. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed dispensed emergency contraception to adolescents, but the majority of those who did said that they were at least sometimes uncomfortable doing so. Respondents said that they would be more likely to dispense emergency contraception to a 17-year-old than to a 14-year-old, and that they would be less likely to contact an older teenager's than a younger teenager's parent or health care provider before providing the drug. The researchers conclude that if training for pharmacists focused greater attention on their role in adolescent health care, the result could be "decreased barriers to care and improved health outcomes" for young people.

(1.) Conard LAE et al., Pharmacists' attitudes toward and practices with adolescents, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2003, 157(4): 361-365.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.