Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY, cilt.2026, ss.24, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Background: Prescribing cascades represent a significant contributor to inappropriate medication use, increased healthcare costs, and preventable patient harm. Given their central role in reviewing and managing medication therapy across prescribers, pharmacists are strategically placed to identify and intervene in these cascades. Aim: To evaluate community pharmacists’ and pharmacy students’ awareness, identification, and management of prescribing cascades in Tu¨rkiye and to explore behavioral determinants that may inform strategies to minimize inappropriate prescribing cascades. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 142 community pharmacists and pharmacy students. The questionnaire was based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and explored respondents’ awareness of prescribing cascades, confidence in identifying and managing them, resolution rates, sources of knowledge, perceived barriers, and training needs. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. Results: The majority of participants (71.1%) reported being unfamiliar with the term ’prescribing cascade’ prior to completing the survey. However, 34.5% reported having personally identified at least one potentially inappropriate prescribing cascade in clinical practice, though only 4.1% stated that these cascades were resolved in 80–100% of cases. While 98.6% agreed that identifying prescribing cascades is important for patient safety, only 85.9% felt it was part of their professional responsibility. Importantly, 94.4% of respondents expressed concern that patients may be receiving prescribing cascades they had not identified. A large majority expressed interest in receiving additional training to better identify (94.4%) and manage (95.1%) prescribing cascades. The most frequently reported barriers included limited access to patients’ medical history (28.9%), high workload or busy pharmacy conditions (35.2%), prescriber reluctance to make medication changes (38.7%), and multiple concurrent prescriptions from different prescribers (31.7%). Conclusion: The findings highlight a significant gap in the awareness and management of prescribing cascades among Turkish community pharmacists and pharmacy students, notwithstanding their strong motivation for improvement. This underscores the urgent need for structured behavioral interventions and healthcare system reforms to reduce preventable medication-related harm. References/Acknowledgments: Dalton K, Callaghan R, O’Sullivan N, McCarthy L. Community pharmacists’ awareness, identification, and management of prescribing cascades: a cross-sectional survey. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2024;20(6):102–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.sapharm.2024.02.013. Email address: beyzatorun@gmail.com Disclosure of Interest: None Declared.