Community pharmacy as an information source about the air quality of cities. About an opinion study

Introduction: Madrid region suffers high pollution level episodes, leading it the elaboration of action protocols that include informing citizens. From the community pharmacy, we could seek to inform the patient, not only of the risks of exposure to this scenario, but also about prevention guidelines against it. The objective of this study was to know if there is a need of information about how contamination affects health and if the pharmacy can be a good channel to disseminate this information.

Materials and Methods: Observational epidemiological transversal study (n = 284). The information was collected through a personal interview conducted by a pharmacist in the collaborating pharmacies from January to June 2018.

Results: 94.2% of respondents believe that air pollution has health implications and knows its risks. 45.4% report not knowing when pollution levels are exceeded in the town where they live. Only 14,1% received information through the administration channels. 86.9% believe that they do not receive enough information regarding pollution and health. 74.6% wants to receive this information and 68.8% [CI (95%): 63,0-74,5], want it individually and using the community pharmacy as a channel.

Discussion: Citizens know that air pollution affects their health, although they do not receive enough information. The systems used by the administration are not effective and that postulates the community pharmacy as an agent of interest for the distribution of the required information.