Insurance coverage and consistent pricing is needed for over-the-counter naloxone.

With the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the first over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray in 2023, it was expected that access to naloxone nasal spray would increase and that its cost would be reduced. However, the writers of this commentary found varying insurance coverage of naloxone during purchase attempts at local pharmacies. Failure to cover naloxone can reduce access and increase risk of overdose death.

Over-the-counter naloxone availability at North Carolina community pharmacies: A secret shopper study.

Background: Over-the-counter (OTC) naloxone became available for sale at community pharmacies in September 2023. This study examines whether naloxone availability and cost are associated with pharmacy type (independent vs chain), pharmacy rurality, and their interaction.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional secret shopper study design, data were collected by phone from a stratified random sample of 600 community pharmacies in North Carolina from November 2023 to January 2024.

Availability of and attitudes towards harm reduction services: a rural pharmacy perspective.

Background: There's limited information available about the range of harm reduction (HR) services provided by rural pharmacies.

Objective: This study's objectives are to describe the types of HR services offered by rural pharmacies and examine pharmacists' attitudes and willingness to offer those services.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was sent to pharmacists who are members of a practice-based research network for rural community pharmacies.

Naloxone Availability and Cost After Transition to an Over-the-Counter Product.

Importance: The US Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan, a nasal spray formulation of naloxone, for sale as an over-the-counter (OTC) medication in March 2023. The purpose of OTC approval was to improve naloxone accessibility to reduce opioid overdoses; however, research has not yet evaluated whether naloxone's availability and cost changed since this policy was implemented.

Objective: To evaluate whether the accessibility and cost of naloxone at North Carolina community pharmacies changed after OTC naloxone became available and whether cost and availability varied by pharmacy type and urbanicity.

A pre-visit video/question prompt list intervention to increase youth question-asking about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during pediatric visits.

Objective: To conduct a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of an ADHD question prompt list with video intervention to increase youth question-asking and provider education about ADHD during visits.

Methods: English-speaking youth ages 11-17 with ADHD and their caregivers were enrolled from two pediatric clinics. Youth were randomized to intervention or usual care groups.

An evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of population genetic screening for familial hypercholesterolemia in US patients.

Background And Aims: Familial hypercholesterolemia is an underdiagnosed genetic metabolic condition limiting the clearance of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increasing lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease. Population genetic screening in unselected individuals could quickly identify cases of familial hypercholesterolemia and enable early prevention, but the economic impact of widespread screening on patients has not been studied.

Methods: We assessed the cost-effectiveness of population genetic screening for familial hypercholesterolemia in 20 and 35-year-old adults in the United States from the perspective of patients.

Naloxone Accessibility by Standing Order in North Carolina Community Pharmacies.

Background: According to a standing order in North Carolina (NC), naloxone can be purchased without a provider prescription.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine whether same-day naloxone accessibility and cost vary by pharmacy type and rurality in NC.

Methods: A cross-sectional telephone audit of 202 NC community pharmacies stratified by pharmacy type and county of origin was conducted in March and April 2023.

Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in rural community pharmacies: a protocol for a stepped wedge randomized clinical trial.

Background: Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines remains problematically low in the USA, especially in rural areas. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is associated with lower uptake, which translates to higher susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 variants in communities where vaccination coverage is low. Because community pharmacists are among the most accessible and trusted health professionals in rural areas, this randomized clinical trial will examine implementation strategies to support rural pharmacists in delivering an adapted evidence-based intervention to reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Adolescent Asthma Monitoring: A Preliminary Study of Audio and Spirometry Modalities.

Asthma patients' sleep quality is correlated with how well their asthma symptoms are controlled. In this paper, deep learning techniques are explored to improve forecasting of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) by using audio data from participants and test whether auditory sleep disturbances are correlated with poorer asthma outcomes. These are applied to a representative data set of FEV1 collected from a commercially available sprirometer and audio spectrograms collected overnight using a smartphone.

A Brief Online Training to Address Pharmacists' Willingness to Dispense Buprenorphine.

Background: The recent passage of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act could increase the number of patients seeking to fill buprenorphine prescriptions at community pharmacies; however, multiple barriers limit community pharmacists' ability and willingness to dispense buprenorphine. We assess whether a brief online buprenorphine training program (Buprenorphine Understanding in the Pharmacy Environment) improves community pharmacists' outcomes, including willingness to dispense buprenorphine.

Methods: A convenience sample of practicing community pharmacists participated in a 30-minute buprenorphine training.

Perceptions of conflicting information about long-term medications: a qualitative in-depth interview study of patients with chronic diseases in the Swiss ambulatory care system.

Objective: Patients with multiple long-term conditions visit various healthcare professionals and are exposed to medication information from various sources causing an increased risk of patients perceiving contradictory medication information. The aims of this study are to: (1) characterise conflicting medication information perceived by patients with long-term conditions, (2) better understand the related impact on patients' medication self-management and healthcare system navigation and (3) explore ways in which such events could be prevented.

Design: This study was conducted through qualitative semistructured interviews.

Exploring the impact of brief training on student pharmacists' naloxone communication skills.

Objective: To explore: a) whether videos that model naloxone communication skills improve student pharmacists' naloxone knowledge, self-efficacy and communication skills and b) whether outcomes differ between video versus written materials.

Methods: Student pharmacists ( = 31) were randomized to either video or written materials training. Changes in naloxone dispensing barriers, self-efficacy, and naloxone knowledge were assessed via survey, while changes in naloxone communication were measured with a standardized patient assessment.

African American patient-provider communication about glaucoma vision quality-of-life.

Background/objectives: Little is known about African American patient-provider communication about glaucoma-related quality-of-life. The objectives of this study were to: (a) examine associations between patient socio-demographics and vision quality-of-life, (b) describe the extent to which eye care providers and patients discuss glaucoma-related quality-of-life, and (c) examine associations between patient and provider characteristics, whether the patient was in the intervention or usual care group, and whether the patient and provider discuss one or more glaucoma-related quality-of-life domains.

Methods: Adult African American patients with glaucoma who reported non-adherence to glaucoma medications were enrolled from three sites.

Impact of Hurricane Matthew on a Cohort of Adolescents With Asthma in North Carolina.

Objective: The aim of this study was to look at a cohort of adolescents who were already enrolled in a randomized controlled trial to see (1) how demographics were associated with hurricane impact, and (2) how hurricane impact was associated with reported asthma quality of life.

Methods: One hundred fifty-one adolescents ages 11-17 and their parents enrolled in a randomized controlled trial at 2 sites in southeastern North Carolina completed questions about asthma quality of life, demographics, and the impact of Hurricane Matthew.

Results: The most common effects of Hurricane Matthew were that the family's home was damaged or flooded (32.

Do African American patients with glaucoma ask their eye providers the questions they have?

Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe what questions patients checked on a glaucoma question prompt list and how often patients asked the same checked questions during medical visits.

Design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of a pre-visit video/glaucoma question prompt list intervention to increase African American patient question-asking during medical visits.

Methods: Adult African American patients with glaucoma and a history of non-adherence to glaucoma medications were enrolled and randomized into intervention and usual care groups from three glaucoma practices.

A Previsit Intervention's Influence on Glaucoma Topics Discussed between Black Patients and Providers.

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to conduct a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a previsit glaucoma video/question prompt list intervention, and to examine the impact on how often providers educate Black patients about glaucoma and glaucoma medication topics during visits.

Design: A randomized controlled trial of a glaucoma question prompt list/video intervention.

Participants: Black patients with a diagnosis of glaucoma who are taking 1 or more glaucoma medications and report being nonadherent.

Co-designing a website with and for youth, so they can better manage their health.

Objective: To co-design a website aimed to empower youth to ask questions to encourage productive, meaningful conversations with their health care providers.

Methods: The research team recruited adolescent stakeholders (ages 11-17) through flyers distributed at local Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) locations, clinics, and school nurses. Eleven adolescents who had at least one chronic medical condition were selected as members of the two youth advisory boards.

"You can get a couple of ramen noodle packs for a Buspar": A qualitative examination of medication access, policy, and procedures in southern jails.

Background: Jails in the United States are required to provide health care to the over 10 million people entering jails each year, a significant portion of whom need medications. Yet little is known about the processes by which medications are prescribed, obtained, and administered to incarcerated persons in jails.

Objective: To describe medication access, policy, and procedures in jails.