Community Pharmacists' Views and Experiences with ADR Reporting for Complementary Medicines: A Qualitative Study in New Zealand.

Introduction: Detecting signals of safety concerns associated with complementary medicines (CMs) relies on spontaneous reports submitted by health professionals and patients/consumers. Community pharmacists are well placed to identify and report suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with CMs, but pharmacists submit few CMs ADR reports.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore New Zealand community pharmacists' views and experiences with ADR reporting for CMs.

Community pharmacists' professional practices for complementary medicines: a qualitative study in New Zealand.

Background Complementary medicines are a popular healthcare choice among patients/consumers, and most pharmacies sell these products. Pharmacists are well-placed to advise on complementary medicines, but their training and practices for these products are not optimal. Pharmacists' professional practices for complementary medicines ought to be influenced by professional codes of ethics and standards.

Community pharmacists' views on the regulation of complementary medicines and complementary-medicines practitioners: a qualitative study in New Zealand.

Objectives: To examine community pharmacists' perspectives on CMs regulation in New Zealand, where proposals for CMs regulations had recently been suspended and where, currently, CMs are only weakly regulated.

Methods: Qualitative, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with New Zealand practising community pharmacists are identified through purposive and convenience sampling. Data were analysed using a general inductive approach.

Atypical alliances: the potential for social work and pharmacy collaborations in primary health care delivery.

The growing prevalence of chronic conditions is a cause for concern globally, both in terms of its impact on the health of populations and also the strain it is predicted to place on health resources. There is a push to adopt more holistic and collaborative approaches to health care, and for the education of health care professionals to be reformed if these efforts are to be successful. A research project was undertaken in New Zealand in 2010-2011 aimed at exploring the perceptions of health care professionals on competencies in the field of chronic care.

The impact of New Zealand's 2008 prohibition of piperazine-based party pills on young people's substance use: results of a longitudinal, web-based study.

Background: The last decade has seen the emergence of a new phenomenon in recreational substance use with the availability of herbal and synthetic, unregulated, psychoactive drugs in the market place; alongside this, international concern has developed in relation to their use and associated harms. New Zealand (NZ) was one of the first countries to experience this new phenomenon, with products containing chemicals of the piperazine group - mainly benzylpiperazine (BZP) and trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP). In 2008, the NZ Government prohibited these substances, but allowed a 6-month amnesty period for possession.

A qualitative evaluation of general practitioners' perceptions regarding access to medicines in New Zealand.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate general practitioners' (GPs) perceptions regarding access to medicines in New Zealand.

Design: Qualitative.

Setting: Primary care.

Prescription drug misuse in New Zealand: challenges for primary health care professionals.

Background: Prescription drug misuse (PDM) is an international phenomenon. Prescription drugs sought for this purpose are often obtained through the primary health care network.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the challenges faced by community pharmacists (CPs) and general practitioners (GPs) when faced with the issue of "drug-seeking" and PDM.

A low-glycemic nutritional fitness program to reverse metabolic syndrome in professional firefighters: results of a pilot study.

Background: The risk for cardiovascular events is higher for those with metabolic syndrome (MetS), and it is known that firefighters have a 4-fold risk for cardiovascular events. The purpose of this study was to quantify MetS prevalence and evaluate the effect of a low-glycemic nutritional fitness program on the reduction of MetS risk factors among firefighters.

Methods: Professional firefighters were screened for MetS then enrolled in a low-glycemic nutritional fitness program for a 12-week period.

BZP-party pills: a review of research on benzylpiperazine as a recreational drug.

Background: BZP-party pills are yet another 'designer drug' which mimics the stimulant qualities of amphetamines and MDMA/Ecstasy. As legal markets for the substance have developed in the last decade (especially amongst young people) so has public and governmental concern.

Methods: This article provides a summary of the available international research on benzylpiperazine (BZP) and its popular use in the compound form known as 'party pills'.

Innocent parties or devious drug users: the views of primary healthcare practitioners with respect to those who misuse prescription drugs.

Background: Many health professionals engage in providing health services for drug users; however, there is evidence of stigmatisation by some health professionals. Prescription drug misusers as a specific group, may also be subject to such judgment. This study aimed to understand issues for primary care health practitioners in relation to prescription drug misuse (PDM), by exploring the attitudes and experiences of healthcare professionals with respect to PDM.

Clinician experiences of employing the AmpliChip® CYP450 test in routine psychiatric practice.

These findings are from a qualitative study examining clinician experiences of employing the AmpliChip® CYP450 test in psychiatric practice. One hundred tests were made available to secondary care mental health service clinicians commencing patient treatment with risperidone across three District Health Boards within New Zealand. Feedback was sought on clinicians' (n = 33) experiences of ordering the test and receiving results, utilization of results, and perceived advantages and disadvantages.

The CYP2D6 metaboliser status of patients prescribed risperidone for the treatment of psychosis.

Aim: To identify the distribution of CYP2D6 metaboliser status in patients who were being prescribed risperidone for the treatment of psychosis in a New Zealand-based clinical population.

Method: 100 AmpliChip CYP450 Test kits were made available by Roche Diagnostics. Clinicians in mental health services across three Auckland District Health Boards were instructed that the tests were being made available for use with patients who were being prescribed risperidone for the first time.

Initiation into methamphetamine use: qualitative findings from an exploration of first time use among a group of New Zealand users.

Methamphetamine use has risen in many countries around the world in recent years, and New Zealand is no exception, with the substance having become well-established in the illicit drug market. While there is much published on the individual and social harms of this drug, limited data are available on methamphetamine use initiation. Understanding early patterns of behavior is important, given the potential risks involved at this stage of use.

"They're legal so they're safe, right?" What did the legal status of BZP-party pills mean to young people in New Zealand?

Background: The legislation on psychoactive substances has a role to play with regard to shaping social values and influencing the normalisation of drug use. In New Zealand from 2005 to 2008, benzylpiperazine-containing 'legal' party pills (BZP-party pills) were legally available for purchase, subject to controls around a minimum purchase age of 18 years, and prohibitions on free of charge distribution and advertising in certain media. This paper explores what their legal status communicated to young users.

Barriers to, and incentives for, the transfer of opioid-dependent people on methadone maintenance treatment from secondary care to primary health care.

Aim: To explore barriers to, and incentives for, clients on methadone-maintenance treatment (MMT) in Auckland, New Zealand to transfer from secondary care to general practitioner (GP) care.

Design: Surveys (with free text response sections) of MMT secondary care staff, stabilised clinic clients, authorised GPs and GP patients.

Results: High response rates from secondary care staff (77%) and GPs (74%).

Highs and lows: patterns of use, positive and negative effects of benzylpiperazine-containing party pills (BZP-party pills) amongst young people in New Zealand.

Background: This study aimed to investigate patterns and context of use of BZP-party pills, function of use, and positive and negative effects experienced by a sample of New Zealand young people who had used the products.

Methods: A qualitative study comprised of semi-structured interviews and group discussions.

Results: The sample included 58 young people aged 17-23 years who had used BZP-party pills in the previous 12 months.

The substances and choices scale (SACS)--the development and testing of a new alcohol and other drug screening and outcome measurement instrument for young people.

Aims: To describe the development and evaluation of the Substances and Choices Scale (SACS), an adolescent alcohol and other drug (AOD) self-report instrument designed in a similar format to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Design: A literature review, extensive consultation and discriminant analysis on a pilot sample (n = 61) of adolescents informed the development of the SACS. The psychometric properties of the SACS were then tested in a larger community and clinical sample.

Legal piperazine-containing party pills--a new trend in substance misuse.

In this Harm Reduction Digest Sheridan, Butler, Wilkins and Russell address the emergent phenomenon of so-called 'legal party pills' which have become a significant drug issue in New Zealand and elsewhere. Although banned in a number of countries, they are currently legally available in New Zealand where they are marketed as 'safe' alternatives' to 'illicit' drugs often used in the dance scene such as MDMA and amphetamines. The authors describe the availability and use of these substances in New Zealand, summarize what is known about their effects, and speculate on harm reduction interventions and mechanisms of control and their possible sequelae.