Pharmacy services at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games: perspectives of the pharmacy workforce

by Prof. Jeong Yeon Rhie
College of Parmacy
PURE Research Profile
sandy.rhie@ewha.ac.kr

What are the new findings?

Volunteer pharmacists responded that they were highly competent and satisfied with the pharmacy services provided by them. The survey revealed some areas that should be updated for the next Olympic and Paralympic Games. These were enforcement of pre-Games education including specific policies, development of a strategy for better communication and preparation of infection control and prevention policies specific to pharmacy care.

Objectives

To evaluate the awareness of the volunteer pharmacy workforce of medication use and their satisfaction with the pharmacy services of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games from a pharmacist's perspective.

Methods

Validity tests were conducted based on expert opinions and Cronbach's alpha (0.79). The questionnaire consisted of demographics (11 questions), knowledge of medication uses in sports (8 questions) and satisfaction on the provision of the service (5 questions). Responses using a 5-point-Likert scale, from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1), and two free text questions were analysed with descriptive statistics.

Results

The response rate was 86% (n=32/37). Overall, the pharmacists reported a high awareness of medication use. Specifically, questions on the prohibited list of medications (mean 4.0±SD 0.7), COVID-19 policy (3.8±0.9), use of alternative non-prohibited medications (3.6±1.0) and therapeutic use exemptions (3.5±0.9). Moreover, they rated high satisfaction with the pharmacy service they provided. However, rates were ≤3 for knowledge of the International Olympic Committee Needle Policy (2.6±1.0), Medication Importation Declaration (2.9±1.0) and communication skills (3.0±1.0).

Conclusion

Pharmacists were confident and satisfied with the pharmacy service at the games. The study confirms the importance of prior training and education. Game-specific policies and strategies to improve communication skills should be included in the pharmacy education for future Games.

* Related Article
Kumiko Kasashi, Ayaka Sato, Mark Stuart, Trudy Thomas, Sung Hwa Kim, Da Mi Jang, Hayley File, Satomi Suzuki, Sandy Jeong Rhie, Pharmacy services at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games: perspectives of the pharmacy workforce, British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 57, Issue 1, 40-45, January, 2023