<p>Community Pharmacists’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Professional Practice Behaviors Towards Dietary Supplements: Results from Multi-Center Survey in Ethiopia</p>

Abstract

Background: The utilization of dietary supplement (DS) is dramatically increasing across the globe, but knowledge of the community pharmacists regarding these products has not been well studied. As to the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no previous study explored community pharmacists knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards DS in Ethiopia context. Hence, this study was undertaken to assess KAP of the community pharmacist about DS. Methods: A cross-sectional multi-center survey of community pharmacists in different cities of Ethiopia was conducted over a period of five months from January to May 2019. The survey evaluated demographic information and KAP of participants related to DS. A stratified random sample of registered pharmacy practitioners all over the country was chosen to respond to the survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. The result was considered significant if P < 0.05. Results: Of the 672 surveys distributed, 608 pharmacists accepted to participate in the study with a response rate of 90.47% and only 600 met the inclusion criteria for further evaluation. Of pharmacists surveyed, 66.7% had adequate knowledge while 53.7% of the pharmacists were within a positive attitude range and lower proportion (41.2%) of pharmacists were found within the good practice range about DS. Age, education level, experience, and position in community pharmacies were significantly associated with KAP. Significant positive linear correlations between knowledge-attitude (r =0.471, p < 0.001), knowledgepractice (r = 0.546, p < 0.001), and attitude-practice (r = 0.741, p < 0.001) were also found. Conclusion: The finding of this survey suggested that the majority of pharmacists had poor professional practice towards DS in spite of having adequate knowledge and a positive attitude regarding DS. Emphasis should be given to teaching/training community pharmacists how to critically evaluate the use, efficacy, and safety of common DS.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related to Dietary Supplements among a Group of Palestinian Pharmacists

“…Researchers have found that 33.3% of Ethiopian pharmacists are poor in their knowledge repertoire in regard to DS while in other studies, this ranged between 40-60%. 22 Generally speaking, pharmacies, considered to be a significant corner-stone of health framework, are in the right position to counsel clients with proof-based data about DS.…”

“…In a study conducted in Saudi Arabia, the majority of the participating pharmacists agreed about the importance of receiving more training and continuing education pertaining to herbal products. 15 The finding of another study 22 suggested that the majority of pharmacists had poor professional practice towards DS in spite of having adequate knowledge and a positive attitude regarding DS; so they suggested that emphasis should be given to teaching/training community pharmacists how to critically evaluate the use, efficacy, and safety of standard DS. Mehralian et al conducted a similar survey in Tehran and found that 62% of the participant pharmacists showed weak knowledge about DS.…”

“…The questionnaire was adopted from the literature with modifications to suit the aim of the study. 22 It comprises of two parts. The first part is about personal and sociodemographic information including (gender, age, residency, work position, experience, marital status and health status) while the second part is about knowledge.…”

“…5 Therefore, as many studies highlight it, it appears urgent for pharmacists to know DS and more importantly, to offer a better professional, medical advice and guidance to patients. 21,22 Examining the available literature provides that there is a paucity in the field where the level of knowledge and practices of the community pharmacists towards DS in Palestine require further exploration. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate KAP concerning DS and to create a link between knowledge and practices amongst community pharmacists in the West Bank, Palestine.…”

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Physicians and Pharmacists Working in Alexandria Governmental Hospitals Regarding Food Drug and Drug Nutrient Interactions

“…Age, education level, work position and experience level in the community pharmacy were significantly related to KAP. (14) Another study carried out in Amman to discover the level of knowledge of hospital and community pharmacists, concluded that pharmacists had a generally disappointing level of knowledge relevant to most commonly known FDIs. (15) Regarding attitude, a high percentage of physicians and pharmacists (86.7%) were shown to have an extremely positive attitude towards FDIs and this was seen comparable with other studies.…”