Fig. 1

Correlation between the involvement of board-certified pharmacists and pharmacist interventions for polypharmacy. The respondents were divided into three groups; board-certified pharmacist in palliative pharmacy (BCPPP; n = 123), other certification (except for BCPPP; n = 99), and no-certification groups (n = 130). (a) Confidence in palliative care (0; no confidence; 10, full confidence); (b) attendance at nationwide continuing education sessions related to palliative care in a year; (c) percentage of patients with cancer managed by pharmacists (zero, 1–39%, 40–69%, 70–99, and 100%); cancer patients prescribed with opioids (d-h) and cancer patients prescribed without opioids (I-M) managed by respondents for the two-month study period; (d and i) number of the patients; (e and j) percentage of patients prescribed six or more regular medications (zero, 1–39%, 40–69%, 70–99, and 100%); (f and k) percentage of inappropriate prescriptions in patients on polypharmacy (zero, 1–39%, 40–69%, 70–99, and 100%), (g and l) percentage of patients on polypharmacy with drug reduction due to pharmacist recommendations (zero, 1–39%, 40–69%, 70–99, and 100%); and (h and m) average number of medications reduced due to pharmacist recommendations among patients on polypharmacy. Data are expressed as dot-box plot (median, interquartile range, and outliers). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, and #p < 0.10 (Steel-Dwass’s test)