Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of community pharmacists regarding antibiotic use and resistance: a cross-sectional study from the United Arab Emirates

One of the main contributing factors of antibiotic resistance is the dispensing of antibiotics without prescription. This study investigated community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices in relation to antibiotic dispensing and resistance in United Arab Emirates (UAE). A cross-sectional survey was conducted using validated questionnaire. (40.1%) had an overall positive KAP score. A total of (88%) respondents were aware of the illegality of dispensing antibiotics without a prescription. Only (31%) had good knowledge regarding amoxicillin dosage for upper respiratory tract infection. The primary misconduct found numerous pharmacists prescribing antibiotics without a prescription, even though they were aware that this should never be done. Pharmacists who attended events focused on antibiotic use and resistance were more likely to have good knowledge about antibiotics (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR): 1.673; 95%CI: 1.029-2.719; p = 0.038), more likely to have positive attitude (AOR: 1.889; 95%CI: 1.133-3.149; p = 0.015), and more likely to have good practice (AOR: 3.182; 95%CI: 1.541-6.572; p = 0.002).

Practices, perceptions and trust of the public regarding online drug purchasing: a web-based survey from Jordan

OBJECTIVES

Online purchasing, including drugs, increased dramatically in the last decade especially through the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and attitudes of consumers concerning online drug purchasing and assess their perceptions regarding the benefits and disadvantages.

DESIGN

A web-based survey conducted through a self-administered questionnaire that was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) committee, ethical approval number: IRB/Al-Ahliyya Amman University/3/13/2021-2022. Cronbach's alpha for the attributes of benefits and disadvantages was 0.608 and 0.744, respectively. Primary outcome measures were extent of trust of the public in online drug purchasing using Likert scale. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess predictors of the trust score.

SETTINGS

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

PARTICIPANTS

Inclusion criteria; residents of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 18 years or older. The questionnaire was distributed through snowball effect via different social media.

RESULTS

A total of 428 participants filled the questionnaire, their average age was 29.7±11.2. Almost all participants, 419 (98.6%) use the internet daily but only 79 (18.6%) participants shop online regularly. Fifty participants (11.8%) purchased drugs online and they had higher benefits score of online purchasing compared with those who did not buy drugs online, 12.5±3.7 and 10.9±3.1, respectively, p=0.002. Participant who purchased drugs online had an increase in trust score of 0.847 compared with those who did not purchase drugs online, p<0.001. In the multivariate model, participants with education level of high school or higher than high school, compared with those with education lower than high school had an increase in trust score of 1.336 (p=0.026) and 1.137 (p=0.039), respectively.

CONCLUSION

The public recognises the risks in buying drugs online. Awareness campaigns and regulations that control and monitor online drug purchasing should be implemented.

Practices, knowledge, and attitudes of community pharmacists towards dispensing drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study from Jordan

Background

Pharmacists have an important role in providing correct information, education, and counseling to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health crisis. In order to perform their duties in a correct manner, they must receive adequate and evidence-based information from official resources.

Objectives

The objectives of the study were to examine the practices of community pharmacists towards dispensing drugs during the COVI-19 pandemic and assess their knowledge concerning the safety and efficacy of these drugs in managing the COVID-19 infection.

Methods

This was a web-based cross-sectional study conducted through the distribution of the questionnaire via the social media through a google form. The drugs examined were azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, dexamethasone, and certain antiviral drugs.

Results

A total of 485 community pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Pharmacists dispensed these medications based on the physician's orders, 420 (86.6%), according to the pharmacist´s recommendations 327 (67.4%), or upon patient´s request 278 (57.3%). Azithromycin was the most dispensed drug and two thirds of the pharmacists dispensed drugs more than 10 times. Community pharmacists did not possess adequate knowledge concerning the effectiveness and safety of the drugs in the management of COVID-19 infection. In the multivariate linear regression analysis; education, type of university, and the average number of daily customers were statistically significant, p values: 0.004, 0.002, and 0.016, respectively. Pharmacists did not have a positive attitude towards dispensing drugs based on their own recommendations. More than half of the pharmacists agreed that they thought it was a correct decision to give these drugs based on their own judgment.

Conclusion

Community pharmacists should not receive information from non-official sources. Strict regulations and implementation of disciplinary actions against pharmacists that dispense prescription only drugs based on their medical judgment are necessary to stop this illegal behavior. A proactive role demonstrated by the pharmacists and based on scientific facts will reduce misconceptions and hazardous behavior of self-medication using prescription only drugs based on rumors and fictitious news.