Dataset Information

Perceptions of community pharmacists regarding their role in antimicrobial stewardship in Pakistan: A way forward.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest challenges to healthcare resulting in increased morbidity and mortality, and associated with drug resistant infections. Community pharmacists (CPs) can play a key role in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs to aid the prudent use of antibiotics, and in infection prevention and control.

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess perceptions of CPs regarding their role, awareness, collaboration, facilitators and barriers towards effective AMS practices in Pakistan.

Method

ology: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was adopted, where convenience and snowball sampling methods were applied to enroll respondents (pharmacists working at these community pharmacies in different cities of Pakistan) of the study. After sample size determination, n = 386 CPs were enrolled. A pre-validated questionnaire was used regarding CPs roles and perceptions in association with AMS. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v. 21.

Results

The results of the study reported that 57.3% (n = 221) of CPs had strong familiarity with term AMS. 52.1% (n = 201) of CPs agreed that they require adequate training to undertake activities in AMS programmes in their setting. The results of the study showed that 92.7% (n = 358) of the pharmacists thought real time feedback would be helpful. Significant association was observed in AMS awareness, approach, collaboration and barriers with regards to the respondents' gender, age groups and levels of experience in a community pharmacy.

Conclusions

The study concluded that CPs were aware of AMS programmes, their relevance and necessity of AMS in their everyday practice, but had inadequate training and resources to implement it in Pakistan.

SUBMITTER: Hashmi A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10070906 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Perceptions of community pharmacists regarding their role in antimicrobial stewardship in Pakistan: A way forward.

Hashmi Ayisha A Ul Haq Muhammad Ijaz MI Malik Madeeha M Hussain Azhar A Gajdács Márió M Jamshed Shazia S

Heliyon 20230325 4

<h4>Background</h4>Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest challenges to healthcare resulting in increased morbidity and mortality, and associated with drug resistant infections. Community pharmacists (CPs) can play a key role in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs to aid the prudent use of antibiotics, and in infection prevention and control.<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of this study was to assess perceptions of CPs regarding their role, awareness, collaboration, facilitators and barri ...[more]

PMID: 37025891

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background Despite increasing interest in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), little is known about the related practices and perceptions of community pharmacists. Objective To develop and validate a questionnaire to measure the current practices of, and barriers to community pharmacists' participation in AMS. Setting Community pharmacists in Tasmania, Australia. Method A questionnaire to explore AMS knowledge, current practices and perceptions of community pharmacists was developed. It was designed after rigorous literature review, expert opinion, and feedback from a group of community pharmacists. A convenience sample of 140 Tasmanian community pharmacists was used for this study. Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used for reliability and validity. The questionnaire was hosted online, a link to which was sent by invitation e-mails, fax and post to community pharmacists in Tasmania, Australia. Main outcome measure Current AMS practices, perceived importance, barriers and facilitators of AMS. Results Eighty-five pharmacists responded to the survey yielding a response rate of 61%. EFA identified one factor solution for each of three perceptions scales and showed acceptable reliability. The Cronbach's alpha of perceived importance-understanding was 0.699, perceived importance-motivating was 0.734, perceived support from GPs was 0.890, operational barriers was 0.585, general facilitators was 0.615. Most pharmacists reported that they counselled patients on adverse effects (86%), drug interactions (94%), and allergies (96%). In contrast, less than half (43%) intervened with prescribers regarding antibiotic selection. Lack of training, lack of access to patients' records, limited interactions with general practitioners and absence of a reimbursement model were major barriers limiting community pharmacists' participation in AMS. Conclusion The questionnaire was of acceptable reliability and validity; a larger study will further contribute in its reliability and validity. Future studies utilising the questionnaire at national and international level may provide further insights into the determinants of community pharmacist's involvement in AMS.

Project description:BackgroundIncreasing antimicrobial resistance is one of the pressing concerns globally. Injudicious use of antibiotics is one of the modifiable factors responsible for antimicrobial resistance. Given the widespread use of antimicrobials in community settings, pharmacists have an important role in ensuring appropriate use of antibiotics. The objective of this study was to assess the perception and self-reported practices of community pharmacists towards antimicrobial stewardship.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacists between March-April, 2015, using a self-administered, pre-tested questionnaire in the State of Selangor, Malaysia. A simple random sampling approach was used to select pharmacy sites. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyse the data.ResultsA total of 188 pharmacists responded to the survey, giving a response rate of 83.5%. The majority of participants (n = 182, 96.8%) believed that antimicrobial stewardship program helps healthcare professionals to improve the quality of patient care. However, more than half of pharmacists were neutral in their opinion about the incorporation of antimicrobial stewardship programs in community pharmacies (n = 102, 54.2%). Though collaboration was often done by pharmacists with other health professionals over the use of antibiotics (n = 104, 55.3%), a significant proportion of participants (n = 102, 54.2%) rarely/occasionally participate in antimicrobial awareness campaigns. Pharmacists having postgraduate qualification were more likely to held positive perceptions of, and were engaged in, antimicrobial stewardship than their non-postgraduate counterpart (p<0.05). Similarly, more experienced pharmacists (> 10 years) held positive perceptions towards antimicrobial stewardship (p<0.05).ConclusionThe study highlighted some gaps in the perception and practices of community pharmacist towards antimicrobial stewardship. Development of customized interventions would be critical to bridging these gaps and improve their perception and practices towards antimicrobial stewardship.

Project description:ObjectivesThis study aimed to identify barriers to the proper use of antibiotics by healthcare professionals and to help the hospital Antimicrobial Stewardship develop suitable actions for the staff.MethodsIn a Belgian teaching hospital, a survey was conducted among physicians, pharmacists, and nurses involved in antibiotherapy. Questions from the 2019 European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) survey were analyzed based on components of the COM-B model (capabilities, opportunities, and motivations). First, collected data were reviewed with the Ethnos software to analyze the different COM-B model components. For statistical analyses, responses were grouped into three clear-cut answers in a Fisher's exact test.ResultsOverall, 400 staff members were included. We found that our professions, combined, have a good perception of antibiotic resistance (97.8%). For capabilities, however, only 77.2% state that they have sufficient knowledge, with 91.3%, 71.5%, and 63.0% for physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, respectively. For opportunities (access to resources, information, and training), it is observed that 72.2% report having easy access to the guidelines they need to manage infections. In comparison, for 64.2% of the respondents, this information changed their opinion on the useless or inappropriate prescription, administration, and delivery of antibiotics. For 55.0%, this information has enabled them to change their practices. Finally, for motivations, 92.8% of respondents state that they know about the link between their practices and the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. However, only 65.0% of participants say they have a role in managing antibiotic resistance. We found that 5 out of 8 questions are significantly dependent on the profession: 2 inquiries related to capability, 1 to opportunity, and 2 to motivation.ConclusionWe found that responses to the ECDC questionnaire are related to the profession. While some topics are universal/cross-functional, others must be explicitly tailored to each professional category. Information is useless if not accessible. Communication and provision of documents are thus paramount.

Dataset Information

Perceptions of community pharmacists regarding their role in antimicrobial stewardship in Pakistan: A way forward.

Background

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Perceptions of community pharmacists regarding their role in antimicrobial stewardship in Pakistan: A way forward.

Similar Datasets

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