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Where and how do you buy medicines? A social and cultural study of attitudes towards buying medicines online and abroad among Swedish public

Liu, Rui LU orcid and Lundin, Susanne LU orcid (2018) Medicine quality and public health Conference
Abstract
We start our presentation with a brief overview of the literature written about SF medical products in the social and cultural sciences. In September 2015, we broadly reviewed literature about the phenomenon of SF medical products, and identified research gaps regarding social, cultural and ethical aspects. Studies, presented below, are two pilot studies aimed to fill some of the gaps. In May 2018 we completed a new literature search focusing specifically on the social sciences and cultural sciences.

In order to understand where and how the Swedish public access their medicines, especially prescribed medicines, an online survey was conducted. Among a collection of 155 answers, the data shows that, although a majority of the... (More)
We start our presentation with a brief overview of the literature written about SF medical products in the social and cultural sciences. In September 2015, we broadly reviewed literature about the phenomenon of SF medical products, and identified research gaps regarding social, cultural and ethical aspects. Studies, presented below, are two pilot studies aimed to fill some of the gaps. In May 2018 we completed a new literature search focusing specifically on the social sciences and cultural sciences.

In order to understand where and how the Swedish public access their medicines, especially prescribed medicines, an online survey was conducted. Among a collection of 155 answers, the data shows that, although a majority of the respondents feel hesitated and negative towards shopping prescribed medicines online, a tendency is demonstrated that people would seek out medical assistance from other sources in foreign countries if their need could not be satisfied by the current national healthcare service. This might expose these vulnerable patients to the danger of falsified medicines. Our findings point out the need to map out medical consumers’ shopping patterns and call for more qualitative studies to understand this mechanism and to provide the public with necessary information regarding shopping medicines in a safe environment. Thereafter a survey with 200 Swedish doctors was carried out. The main purpose was to gather information on how much knowledge and experiences these frontline medical professionals had regarding SF medical products. The results show that 1 in 4 respondents have not heard about this phenomenon and there is a lack of awareness among physicians on the use of the reporting system. Related education is needed and desired. (Less)
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publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
conference name
Medicine quality and public health Conference
conference location
Oxford, United Kingdom
conference dates
2018-09-24 - 2018-09-28
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c83829aa-1335-40cb-a803-d96ed1af6468
date added to LUP
2019-05-02 16:24:38
date last changed
2021-09-21 02:31:31
@misc{c83829aa-1335-40cb-a803-d96ed1af6468,
  abstract     = {{We start our presentation with a brief overview of the literature written about SF medical products in the social and cultural sciences. In September 2015, we broadly reviewed literature about the phenomenon of SF medical products, and identified research gaps regarding social, cultural and ethical aspects. Studies, presented below, are two pilot studies aimed to fill some of the gaps. In May 2018 we completed a new literature search focusing specifically on the social sciences and cultural sciences.<br/><br/>In order to understand where and how the Swedish public access their medicines, especially prescribed medicines, an online survey was conducted. Among a collection of 155 answers, the data shows that, although a majority of the respondents feel hesitated and negative towards shopping prescribed medicines online, a tendency is demonstrated that people would seek out medical assistance from other sources in foreign countries if their need could not be satisfied by the current national healthcare service. This might expose these vulnerable patients to the danger of falsified medicines. Our findings point out the need to map out medical consumers’ shopping patterns and call for more qualitative studies to understand this mechanism and to provide the public with necessary information regarding shopping medicines in a safe environment. Thereafter a survey with 200 Swedish doctors was carried out. The main purpose was to gather information on how much knowledge and experiences these frontline medical professionals had regarding SF medical products. The results show that 1 in 4 respondents have not heard about this phenomenon and there is a lack of awareness among physicians on the use of the reporting system. Related education is needed and desired.}},
  author       = {{Liu, Rui and Lundin, Susanne}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Where and how do you buy medicines? A social and cultural study of attitudes towards buying medicines online and abroad among Swedish public}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}