Attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to practice-based research: A cross-sectional survey of hospital pharmacists in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Background and objectivesPractice-based research (PBR) is of pivotal importance for hospital pharmacists which not only up-grades the profession but also improves the patient care. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR among hospital pharmacists in Pakistan.MethodsA descriptive, cross sectional study design was employed. Data were collected between 1st December, 2017 and 1st March, 2018 from 130 hospital pharmacists employed in 41 hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. A survey instrument comprising of six sections was designed to determine the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 21.0, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). The normality of the data was determined through Shapiro-Wilks and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Independent Samples Mann-Whitney U Test and Independent Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test were carried out to test if there were differences among the characteristics of the hospital pharmacists. Logistic regression analysis was used to figure out the factors associated with attitude, perceptions, willingness and motivation towards PBR. A p-value <0.05 was used for statistical significance of differences.ResultsA total of 141 pharmacists were approached. Among them, 130 responded to the survey (response rate 92%). Out of a maximum score i.e., 5 (100%) the respondents obtained a median score of 4 (IQR = 0) for attitude, perception and motivation towards PBR; whereas, a median score of 4 (IQR = 1) was obtained for willingness thus demonstrating fair positive attitude, good perceptions, increased motivation and willingness towards PBR. The most common barrier limiting the pharmacists’ participation in PBR was lack of time (23.8%) followed by lack of incentives (16.2%) and lack of support (14.6%). Results of the logistic regression analysis revealed that hospital pharmacists practicing in the inpatient settings had 4.56 times more positive attitude towards PBR (OR = 4.56, 95%CI = 1.07─19.42, p-value = 0.040) as compared to those practicing in the outpatient settings. The male hospital pharmacists (OR = 8.86, 95%CI = 1.15–53.74, p-value = 0.017), those practicing in the outpatient (OR = 23.51, 95%CI = 2.04─271.53, p-value = 0.011) and inpatient settings had increased motivation towards PBR (OR = 12.24, 95%CI = 1.61─94.66, p-value = 0.016).ConclusionDespite the presence of several barriers, the respondents had fair positive attitude, good perceptions, increased motivation and willingness towards PBR which is a promising finding.

Attitudes, barriers and facilitators of hospital pharmacists conducting practice‐based research: a systematic review

“…Nine studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were included in this review (Figure 1). 10–18 The studies included a total of 1193 hospital pharmacists from six countries (Table 1). Eight of the nine studies utilised a cross‐sectional survey design and one study was a pre–post survey of hospital pharmacists’ attitudes towards pharmacy practice‐based research before and after a two‐day introductory research workshop.…”

“…Six studies explored pharmacist interest in practice‐based research. Across all six studies, there was strong interest, with 70–87% of pharmacists indicating that they were interested in research participation 10,13–17 . While interest in participating in research was consistently high, there was much greater variation in the proportion of pharmacists who had experience with practice‐based research and were confident they could conduct practice‐based research, ranging 30–77% and 34–73%, respectively (Table 1).…”

“…While interest in participating in research was consistently high, there was much greater variation in the proportion of pharmacists who had experience with practice‐based research and were confident they could conduct practice‐based research, ranging 30–77% and 34–73%, respectively (Table 1). 10,11,13–16 …”

A profession in danger: Stakeholders’ perspectives on supporting the pharmacy profession in Lebanon

“…As a matter of fact, regulating pharmacists supply and creating cross-sector ob opportunities require prompt governmental regulations [24]. Other countries have enabled pharmacists to exercise their full scope of practice, for example, community pharmacists in the UK have been involved in research [25,26], health coaching [27], as well as patient assessments and population-based programs [28]. If this can be achieved successfully in Lebanon, the profession could be up-scaled with pharmacists practicing as patient educators and population health agents.…”

A Profession in Danger: Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Supporting The Pharmacy Profession in Lebanon

“…Other countries have enabled pharmacists to exercise their full scope, for example, community pharmacists in the UK have been involved in research to provide cost-effective and evidence-based support to communities and other healthcare professionals [17]. Such research endeavors have been associated with better patient outcomes [18].…”