Frequency and attitudes of purchasing medications online in the Visegrad Countries Europe after the pandemic - 2022 survey data

Evidently, the e-pharmacy market has been accelerated by the pandemic and has made pharmacy e-commerce integral to healthcare delivery, as commerce and healthcare has shifted to the digital environment. Therefore, the aim of provided research was to assess the frequency and attitudes of patients purchasing medications online before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) following a similar path regarding the regulatory environment of internet pharmacies and distant sale of pharmaceuticals.
An online descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in four central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) representing 12.5% of EU-28, to measure the prevalence and attitudes towards purchasing medications and health products from the internet, further, to evaluate the change of such purchases before and after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in March 2020. These countries have similar indicators regarding socio-demographic characteristics, economic and cultural background. Respondents were approached via the most popular social media platforms in the region (Facebook and Instagram) with the questionnaire formatted into the Google forms, further, surveyed through the Pollfish survey research platform between May and August 2022.
The 25-item questionnaire included single choice and 5-point Likert scale answers. It consisted of an introductory paragraph on the purpose of the survey, information on confidentiality, and anonymity followed by four main sections: Questions related to drug procurement (n=3); Attitudes towards online drug purchases (n=4); Internet usage habits including medicines and health product purchases (n=13); Sociodemographic data (n=5). The first section is preceded by four screening questions to increase consciousness regarding the attributes of medicines for participants to be able to differentiate medicines from health products (e.g., dietary supplements or herbals) in the later sections of the survey. Participation was voluntarily and anonymous. We have not directly collected data on health status, however, respondents had to select if they were taking medications for chronic conditions and they had the opportunity to name the products purchased online and the website they have used for the purchase.

显而易见，新冠疫情加速了电子药房市场的发展，随着商业与医疗保健向数字化环境转型，药房电商已成为医疗服务供给中不可或缺的组成部分。因此，本研究旨在评估维谢格拉德集团（Visegrad Group）成员国（捷克共和国、匈牙利、波兰与斯洛伐克）内，患者在新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）疫情前后的线上购药频率与态度——上述国家在互联网药房与药品远程销售的监管环境方面具有相似的规制路径。

本研究针对占欧盟28国（EU-28）总人口12.5%的四个中欧国家（捷克共和国、匈牙利、波兰与斯洛伐克）开展了一项线上描述性横断面研究，旨在测算民众通过互联网采购药品与健康产品的流行率及相关态度，并评估其在2020年3月新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情暴发前后的此类购买行为变化。上述国家在社会人口学特征、经济与文化背景方面具有较高相似性。研究依托该地区主流社交媒体平台（Facebook与Instagram）触达受访者，问卷采用谷歌表单（Google Forms）编制，并于2022年5月至8月间通过Pollfish调研平台（Pollfish）完成数据采集。

本研究采用的问卷共计25道题目，题型涵盖单选题与李克特5级量表（5-point Likert scale）题。问卷开篇包含研究目的说明、保密与匿名相关告知，随后分为四个核心模块：药品采购相关问题（共3题）、线上购药态度相关问题（共4题）、涵盖药品与健康产品购买行为的互联网使用习惯相关问题（共13题），以及社会人口学特征相关问题（共5题）。在首个正式模块前，设置了4道筛选题，以强化受访者对药品属性的认知，使其能够在问卷后续模块中准确区分药品与健康产品（如膳食补充剂或草本制剂）。本次调研采用自愿参与且匿名的原则。研究未直接采集受访者健康状况数据，但要求受访者勾选是否正在服用慢性疾病治疗药物，同时预留了填写线上购买产品名称及所用购物网站的选项。