(1210) Patient Perception of Pharmacists Managing Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) in the Community-based Pharmacy Setting

Objectives: Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) can be defined as “compounds that have exactly the same chemical and molecular structure as hormones that are produced in the human body”. BHRT is most commonly used in the treatment of postmenopausal symptoms in women. Consultations and treatment for BHRT can be provided by a variety of healthcare providers, including pharmacists. In general, patients perceive BHRT to be safer, cause fewer side effects, and as effective at treating menopause symptoms compared to conventional hormone replacement therapy. Currently, there is limited evidence on patient perception of pharmacists managing BHRT in the community-based pharmacy setting. The objectives are to (1) evaluate patients’ perception of community-based pharmacists managing BHRT; (2) evaluate the need for BHRT management in the community-based pharmacy setting.

Methods: This study is a prospective cohort observational survey-based study conducted over 4 months. Participants 18 years and over who provided an independent pharmacy with email addresses were included. A survey was developed from available literature and previous satisfaction projects at the pharmacy. The survey was developed in Qualtrics and consists of 41 questions including a series of free-answer, select-all-that-apply, yes/no, and Likert scale questions. Demographics to be collected include: age, gender assigned at birth, race, ethnicity, medical conditions, highest level of education, insurance type, annual household income, number of prescription, nonprescription, and herbal medications, if the respondent is a patient of and services used at the pharmacy. Information to be collected includes subjective and objective data regarding current hormone replacement therapy use and perception of BHRT and pharmacist-provided BHRT consultation services. Surveys were dispersed electronically by sending an individual link via email from Qualtrics and will be collected from September 2023 through December 2023. Four reminder emails will be sent from Qualtrics by the end of the collection period. The data will be analyzed using descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics.

Results: N/A - study in progress

Conclusions: Results from this research will be used to develop a BHRT consultation service in the community-pharmacy based setting.