Background A key element for an effective and safe oral anticoagulant treatment (OAT) is to have the relevant information delivered to patients in an easy-to-understand way and thus have them apply this knowledge in their own therapy. Objective To assess knowledge about OAT, reveal knowledge gaps and identify at-risk patients in terms of limited knowledge about their anticoagulant therapy. Setting Community pharmacies in Hungary. Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study used a structured, validated, self-developed questionnaire to assess patients' knowledge about OAT. Scores were calculated on each domain and the association between knowledge and patients' or treatment characteristics were analysed. Responses in all domains were assessed to identify at-risk patients and knowledge gaps. Main outcome measures Knowledge and knowledge gaps on OAT, and risk factors for limited knowledge. Results The questionnaire developed based on four validated questionnaires passed the field test and had a good internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.795). Our full patient population (N = 427) had a mean percentage score of 59.39 (29.7% good, 41.2% average, 29.0% poor knowledge on OAT). Poor knowledge level was found to significantly correlate with advanced age (> 75 years), lower education, diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, and unawareness of the indication of OAT. The lowest frequency of correct answers regarded the questions on drug interactions (10.2%) and diet (11.4%). Pharmacists were infrequently indicated as the healthcare professionals to share information with regarding OAT (12.7%). Conclusion Findings of our study offer a valuable insight into the required directions of developing new strategies for patient education to improve knowledge on the treatment with oral anticoagulants.

Development of drug delivery systems for chronic disorders needs a complex thinking in order to ensure the quality of the product. A multidisciplinary approach of pharmaceutical technology, regulatory and behavioral sciences on the basis of the Quality by Design methodology can be a proper tool for this to handle formulators’, patients’, and also doctors’ needs in therapy planning in case of chronic ophthalmologic disorders. According to the present state-of-the-art”, patient perceptions are collected in the form of the “Patient Reported Outcome Measurements” during the clinical trials, but no feedback is given to the formulation development in order to take these aspects into consideration when designing a new product. This work aims to link the key performance indicators from patients’ point of view to the pharmaceutical development and show a new approach to product development by evaluating the patient and formulator aspect as critical quality attributes within the classical Quality by Design workflow. This study can be the basis of the formulation design and development of a new ophthalmic formulation as it revealed the patient critical needs and requirement.

Background: At least 17% of the population suffers from osteoarthritis (OA) in Hungary, according to the European Health Interview Survey. In Hungary, until now there was no OA-specific questionnaire available for the lower limb, in order to monitor the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This gap gave the relevance of this research. The aim of the study was to perform the Hungarian cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the French-developed Osteoarthritis Knee and Hip Quality of Life (OAKHQoL) questionnaire. Methods: The five-step translation procedure of the original OAKHQoL was performed by the expert panel and the translators. The created Hungarian version (OAKHQoL-HUN) was tested in six different geographical areas of Hungary. The validity and the reliability of this adapted tool was analyzed by our research group. Results: A total of 99 patients completed the questionnaires (78 women and 21 men), with the average age of 66.6 years (standard deviation (SD) 12.1), living with OA for more than 10 years. Excellent internal consistency was observed in the following domains: physical activity (α = 0.93), mental health (α = 0.91) and pain (α = 0.89). Good correlation was determined between physical subscales ( r = 0.615–0.676) and mental subscales ( r = 0.633–0.643) compared to generic quality of life instruments (World Health Organization Quality of life – BREF questionnaire and EQ-5D-3L). Conclusion: The OAKHQoL-HUN is the first valid and reliable tool for measuring the Hungarian lower limb OA patients’ quality of life. Trial Registration: This study is registered (24950-3/2016/EKU) by the National Ethics Committee: the Hungarian Medical Research Council.

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