The Practice of Pharmacy Infection Control by Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to illustrate the practice of pharmacy infection control by pharmacists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: In this crosssectional study, we aimed to assess the practice of pharmacy infection control by pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. We used a self-reported electronic survey questionnaire and distributed it to pharmacists from interns to consultants and specialists in Saudi Arabia. The survey collected demographic information of the pharmacists and about the implemented pharmacy infection control practices. The practice of pharmacy infection control and pharmacy infection control responsibilities among the types of healthcare professionals. We used 5-point Likert response scale system with close-ended questions to obtain responses. The data were collected through the Survey Monkey system and analyzed with Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS), Jeffery's Amazing Statistics Program (JASP), and Microsoft Excel (version 16) software. Results: A total of 435 pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Of them, one-quarter belonged to the central region (97 (22.35%)), followed by the northern region (92 (21.2%)), and there were no statistically significant differences between the provinces (p=0.637). Most of the responders were from a community pharmacy (81 (18.62%)), Ministry of Health (MOH) hospital (69 (15.86%)), and military hospitals (49 (11.26%)), with statistically significant differences between working sites (p=0.000). Moreover, 212 (48.96%) were female, while 221 (51.04%) were male, with non-statistically significant among the areas (p=0.665). Most of the responders were in the age group of 24-30 years (151 (34.87%)) and 36-40 years (101 (23.33%)) with statistically significant differences between all age groups (p=0.000). The average score of the elements related to the implementation of pharmacy infection control practices was 3.07, with high scores obtained for the aspect "the vision of pharmacy infection control" (3.79) and "mission of pharmacy infection control" (3.55). In contrast, the lowest score was obtained for the element "competition in infection control pharmacy" (2.51) and infection control pharmacy and quality management (2.65). The average score for the element implementation of pharmacy infection control practice was 3.47, with high scores obtained for the element "the pharmacist share in infection control committee" (4.37) and "the pharmacist was always a staff member of infection control or pharmacy departments" 3.84. In contrast, the lowest score was obtained for the element attending several courses or workshops about pharmacy infection control (3.17). The scores for the single-test reliability analysis of McDonald's ω was 922, Cronbach's α was0.919, Gutmann's λ2 was 0.930, Gutmann's λ6 was 0.973, and Greater Lower Bound was 0.990. Conclusion: In this study, pharmacists' practice of pharmacy infection control was found to be inadequate in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, implementing infection control in pharmacy practice is required to prevent drug-...