Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of Physicians towards Clinical Pharmacy Services in Ten Public Hospitals in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes and practice of medical doctors in some selected public hospitals towards Clinical Pharmacy Services in Ethiopia. Methodology:Cross sectional study design was employed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of medical doctors towards clinical pharmacy services. The study population was selected using simple random sampling technique. Self-administered questionnaires were used to extract relevant information from the study subjects. The data was entered, cleaned and analyzed by using SPSS version-20. Results:The mean age of the study participants was 28.2 ± 5.2 years with a range between 20-53 years and 87.1% were males. 89.6% of the respondents are general practitioner and 8(8.6%) with different specialization with year of experience 2.94 + 3(0.5-22 year). Majority of respondents are knowledgeable regarding to clinical pharmacists as a member of medical teams and their services in reducing medication related errors and health related costs. More than 74% of the respondents were highly satisfied by the role of clinical pharmacists in counseling of patients regarding to safe and appropriate use of medications, prevention, detection and management adverse drug reactions. The present study depicted that lack of support from administration (70%); shortage of staff (63.4%) and lack of adequate support by the health care team (62.4%) were the major limitations to practice clinical pharmacy service in the hospitals. Conclusions:Physicians undoubtedly considered that pharmacists are drug information experts. Nevertheless, their anticipation of pharmacists as providers of quality clinically-focused pharmacy services was little. Physicians were willing to collaborate with clinical pharmacists in monitoring drug therapy and improving patient care by identifying medication errors.

Sierra Leonean doctors' perceptions and expectations of the role of pharmacists in hospitals: a national cross-sectional survey

“…Nonetheless, doctors believe pharmacists should be in the wards to answer drugrelated issues and not otherwise. Generally, these findings are in concordance with previous studies [23,24]. In the eyes of doctors and other healthcare workers, pharmacists' primary role is drug formulation and dispensing and should not involve direct patients care [21,27].…”

“…Doctors are not always aware of what pharmacists can offer and how they can collaborate to maximize patient care. In a study involving thirteen physicians, almost all were not aware of the level of clinical training pharmacists received but saw the need for collaborating [23], mainly in reducing medication-related errors, health-related costs, and the detection and management of adverse drug reactions [24]. Conversely, pharmacists are not always concerned with physicians' expectations when developing clinical pharmacy activities [22].…”

Yemeni Physicians’ Attitudes and Perceived Barriers Toward Ward-Based Clinical Pharmacist in Hospital Settings

“…While most participants reported that clinical pharmacists should leave patient care to other healthcare members and care about drug products, this was expected since many low-income nations reported that the responsibilities of the clinical pharmacist have been defined as subordinate to those of physicians. 13 , 25 One probable explanation for these perceptions is that physicians are unaware of clinical pharmacists’ expertise. When the clinical pharmacist and the physician continue to communicate and the pharmacist can share his or her expertise, physicians may see the clinical pharmacist’s potential and significance to the health care team.…”

“…[19][20][21] The third part was concerned with barriers that may hinder clinical pharmacists' contributions to the health care team; those questions were adopted from existing literature. 12,13 Two independent academic members from the faculty of pharmacy pre-tested the questionnaire for suitability and content relevance. The questionnaire was additionally reviewed by the other three physicians for relevance, clarity, conciseness, and simplicity of the items.…”

“…In 2011, Hodeidah University became the first university to offer a clinical pharmacy program, and in 2013, it established the first independent college of clinical pharmacy. 9,10 Previous research has indicated that there are some variations in how doctors see various types of CPSs [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] and that doctors seem to have an improved perception of CPSs if they interact with pharmacists more often. 11,[15][16][17][18][19] Doctors in Sweden are skeptical of the expertise and understanding of clinical pharmacists.…”