Assessment of knowledge and counseling practice of warfarin among pharmacists in UAE: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: Background: Warfarin has long been regarded as the cornerstone anticoagulant for patients requiring long-term prevention or treatment of thromboembolic disorders. With adequate knowledge and counseling skills, hospital and community pharmacists can play a major role in enhancing warfarin therapy. Objective: to evaluate the knowledge and counseling practices toward warfarin among community and hospital pharmacists in UAE. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving community and hospital pharmacies was conducted with online questionnaire which was submitted to pharmacists focusing on their pharmacotherapeutic knowledge and patient education toward warfarin in UAE. Data were collected within 3 months (July, August and September 2021). SPSS Version 26 was used to analyze the data. The survey questions were sent to expert researchers in pharmacy practice for comments on their relevancy, clarity, and essentiality. Results: Among the target population sample size of 400 pharmacists were approached. Majority of the pharmacists in UAE (157/400, 39.3%) had 1-5 years of experience. Most of the participants (52%) have fair knowledge about warfarin and (62.1%) of them have fair counseling practices about warfarin. Hospital pharmacists have more knowledge than community pharmacists (Mean rank, Independent pharmacy: 166.30, Chain pharmacy: 138.01, Hospital pharmacy: 252.27, p<0.05) and they have better counseling practice than community pharmacists (Mean rank, Independent pharmacy: 188.83, Chain pharmacy: 170.18, Hospital pharmacy: 222.90, p<0.05). Conclusion: The study's participants had moderate knowledge and counseling practices of warfarin. As a result, specialized training in warfarin therapy management for pharmacists is needed to improve therapeutic outcomes and avoid complications. Moreover, conferences or online courses should be held to train pharmacists on how to provide professional counseling to patients.

Assessment of satisfaction of attendees of healthcare centers in Jordan with community pharmacy services of pharmacies they usually use

“…Patients and the general public appreciate pharmacists’ advice regarding medications, supplements, and disease, an important policy issue of interest to pharmacists, overhead professional bodies, and healthcare policymakers. Appropriate provision of patient education services ensures therapeutic outcomes [ 34 ]. Interestingly, about 60% of the patients surveyed in the present study were satisfied with the explanation.…”

“…The pharmacist is best suited to provide this pivotal role and other advice related to a healthy lifestyle [ 35 ]. Research evidence has highlighted that the appropriate and clear communication provided by pharmacists is more likely to lead to satisfaction with the community pharmacy services [ 36 ], and this directly reflects on the critical therapeutic outcomes [ 34 ]. A related piece of work highlighted a higher prevalence of satisfaction with counseling by community pharmacists, which equaled 72% [ 37 ].…”

Mineral-Associated Medicinal Plants: Uncovering Their Anti-inflammatory Potential Through Comprehensive Exploration of Bioactive Compounds And Pharmacological Activities

“…Licorice decreases the excretion of digoxin, leading to increased levels of the drug in the body. This could be responsible for increasing the risk of digoxin toxicity 38 .…”