Survey of knowledge and practice on oral contraceptive and emergency contraceptive pills of drugstore personnel in Hat Yai, Thailand

Abstract

In Thailand, oral contraceptive (OC) and emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) are available as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, and drugstores share 30% of services. While the rate of dispensing contraceptive pills has increased, the knowledge and awareness of ECP use is limited among users and providers. The objective of this study was to assess knowledge and practice of drugstore personnel on providing OC and ECP, in order to improve the quality of services. Drugstores located in Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, Southern Thailand, were the accessible population. There were 109 drugstores, half of them owned by pharmacists. The population was stratified by owner (pharmacist or non-pharmacist) and randomly selected to obtain a sample size of 30 drugstores for each class. Two study methods, questionnaire interview and secret shopping, were used to measure knowledge, and practice, respectively. History-taking, drug-choosing, and advice-giving were the domains measured. The results demonstrated that knowledge on OC was fair, but that on ECP was poor. Pharmacists had better knowledge of proper history taking and ECP indication than non-pharmacists. OC and ECP provision were inappropriately practised in drugstores in the study area. A majority of drugstores were mainly owned by non-pharmacists. For OC practice, drug-choosing was good, but history-taking and advice-giving were poor in both groups. Although both groups dispensed ECP poorly, pharmacists dispensed significantly better than non-pharmacists. Among non-pharmacist staff, the average scores of OC advice-giving, and ECP dispensing, were statistically significantly better among those working in pharmacist-owned drugstores. Both knowledge and practice on OC and ECP should be improved in both types of drugstores in the study area.

A systematic review of the use of simulated patients and pharmacy practice research

“…Thirteen studies were undertaken in Europe, 14,15,17,20,21,24,27,30,37,40,43,49,50 nine in Asia, 7,12,13,22,29,39,42,47,51 eight in South and Central America, 8,9,18,25,31,35,45,48 seven in North America, 23,26,32,34,36,41,46 four in Africa, 13,16,28,33 three in Australasia 10,11,38 and one in the Middle East. 19 The remaining study was conducted across three countries.…”

“…7,18,30,31,37,41 Several studies stated that the simulated patients had received training but gave no information about its content. 12,25,35,39,45,51 Other studies reported providing the simulated patients with briefings, but not training per se. 8,16,20,27,28,33,63 Five studies included short training sessions.…”

Awareness and perceptions of emergency contraception among retail pharmacists in Kuwait

“…In Thailand, pharmacist knowledge of EC was ''poor'' but significantly better than that of non-pharmacist drugstore owners [25] while in South Africa 32% of pharmacists and 28% of general practitioners prescribed the Yuzpe regimen correctly [20]. The low awareness and involvement of Kuwaiti pharmacists can be partly explained by the lack of a spe- Fig.…”

Evaluation of the effectiveness of an Internet-based continuing education program on pharmacy-based minor ailment management: a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…However, studies performed in several other countries showed that CPs frequently do not appropriately assess the patient's condition, do not choose the correct therapeutic approach, do not provide objective information about medications or how to use them, or assess patient outcomes with the use of medications (Mesquita et al, 2013;Ratanajamit, Chongsuvivatwong, 2001;Kubiliene et al, 2006) thus raising concerns about therapeutic and adverse clinical consequences for patients.…”

“…These schemes were originally proposed by the UK NHS as part of their long-term strategy to encourage patient self-care and the utilization of pharmacies as the first port of call for minor ailments where professional support was required (Department of Health, 2000). A systematic review by Paudyal et al (2013) verified that minor ailments are being dealt with appropriately by PMASs, with low reconsultation rates and high symptom-resolution rates.However, studies performed in several other countries showed that CPs frequently do not appropriately assess the patient's condition, do not choose the correct therapeutic approach, do not provide objective information about medications or how to use them, or assess patient outcomes with the use of medications (Mesquita et al, 2013;Ratanajamit, Chongsuvivatwong, 2001;Kubiliene et al, 2006) thus raising concerns about therapeutic and adverse clinical consequences for patients.Pharmacy education curricula in several developing countries do not focus on patient care, with only a few disciplines that focus on developing communication skills, semiology, and pharmacotherapy knowledge (de Castro, Correr, 2007;Ghilzai, Dutta, 2007;Volmer, Vendla, Vetka, 2008). This gap in pharmacy graduation curricula in developing countries can result in inappropriate CP knowledge, skills, and competency and hinder pharmacy-based minor ailment management.…”