Knowledge, attitude and practice of Lebanese community pharmacists with regard to self-management of low back pain

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the knowledge, attitude and reported practice of Lebanese community pharmacists who advise persons who present with low back pain.Methods: This was a multi-center cross-sectional study conducted in over 300 community pharmacies across Lebanon from December 2017 to May 2018. Pharmacists working at a community pharmacy were considered eligible, and those who volunteered to participate completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed for self-completion by the pharmacist and included demographic questions about the respondent, questions that assessed knowledge and attitude toward low back pain, and questions about treatment to reflect and characterize the nature of practice. The primary outcome was to determine the knowledge, attitude and reported practice of the Lebanese pharmacists advising people who presented with low back pain. The secondary outcome was to assess factors that affect knowledge, attitude, and practice.Results: The response of 320 community pharmacists was analysed. The proportion of pharmacists with good knowledge about low back pain (51. 7 %) was slightly higher than those with poor knowledge (48. 3 %). Oral therapy was the most prescribed dosage form for back pain compared to local patch and cream. Among oral dosage forms, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were the most prescribed medications (42 %). Of the patients’ referral to the physician if necessary, 73.1 % of the referrals were by pharmacists.Conclusion: Community pharmacists in Lebanon demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge of back pain, yet major gaps still exist, particularly in terms of the quality of advice. Hence, more education is needed to provide better quality of advice.
 Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, Low back pain, Reported practice, Quality of advice

Attitudes, awareness, and perceptions of general public and pharmacists toward the extended community pharmacy services and drive-thru pharmacy services: a systematic review

“…Among descriptive cross-sectional studies, 48 studies out of 49 achieved good quality scoring and only one achieved fair quality scoring. Qualitative and mixedmethod studies all achieved good quality scoring (see Nigeria [36,40], China [37], Poland [38], Iran [39], Malaysia [44], Jamaica [41], Jordan [42], Pakistan [43] Intermediate care service 2 UK (Ireland) [66,67] Public health activities 2 Yemen [48], Nigeria [49] Cancer health promotion 1 Ghana [78] Breast cancer health promotion 6 Qatar [79], Iraq [84], Jordan [80], UAE [81], Palestine [82], Malaysia [83] Breast and bowel cancer screening 1 Australia [85] Drive-thru service 2 Jordan [22,88] Travel medicine services 1 Malaysia [73] Weight management services 2 UK [86], Malaysia [76] Nutrition counselling 1 Egypt [77] Mental health services 3 UK [55], Malaysia [56], Canada [57] Pain management 1 Lebanon [62] Smoking cessation 2 Malaysia [74], Jordan [75] professional practice 2 Malaysia [53], UAE [54] Oral health services 2 Malaysia [69], Lebanon [70] Minor Aliment services 1 Malaysia [51] Lifestyle assistance to cardiovascular disease 1 Malaysia [58] Osteoporosis risk assessment 1 Malaysia [61] Servic...…”

“…The included studies are presented in Additional file 1, which shows pharmacists' awareness, perceptions, or attitudes toward various extended pharmacy services and drive-thru service at community setting including: extended role services [35], pharmaceutical care services [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44], over-the-counter pharmaceutical services [45,46], health promotion and health education [47], public health activities [48,49], value-added services [50], minor aliment services [51], medication reconciliation [52], professional services [53,54], services for people with mental disorders [55][56][57], lifestyle assistance services for people with cardiovascular diseases [58], anticoagulation management services [59], services for geriatrics [60], osteoporosis assessment screening [61], back pain management services [62], Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Services [63], emergency contraception services [64], clinical services [65], intermediate care services [66,67], interactions with general practitioners [68], oral health services [69,70] [71,72], travel medicine services [73], smoking cessation counselling [74,<...…”

“…A good range of services for the elderly were perceived to be provided by community pharmacists in New Zealand, such as encouraging medications' adherence by offering compliance packaging, medication review, and repeat prescription reminders, in addition to some screening services such as blood pressure measurements [60]. In Malaysia (2021), there were low osteoporosis risk assessment tools practice of and modest awareness among community pharmacists [61], while in Lebanon (2019) the perceived back pain management services by community pharmacists were dispensing of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and patients' referral to the physician when needed [62].…”

Low Back Pain Preventive Intervention in Clinical Workers in Lorestan Hospitals in Iran

“…Previous study revealed that different factors are involved in the incidence of LBP in clinical workers especially some staffs who do heavy works like patients transferring in the hospital [5] . Several studies have shown the effectiveness of knowledge, attitude and behavior promotion based educational interventions on prevention of LBP [6][7] . Previous evidence reported that negative attitudes towards LBP preventive behaviors could leading to pain severity and disability.…”

“…Previous evidence reported that negative attitudes towards LBP preventive behaviors could leading to pain severity and disability. On other hands positive beliefs towards LBP preventive behaviors could promote healthy LBP preventive behaviors and prevent LBP [6] . As to our knowledge there is no study regarding the impact of educational program on knowledge, attitudes and To collect data a demographic questionnaire as well as a researcher -made questionnaire consisted of subscales of knowledge, attitude and behavior questions were used.…”