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Background Drug-related problems (DRPs) interfere with patient's health outcomes and have a negative impact on healthcare resources. Successful management of DRPs is an essential part of pharmaceutical care. Pharmacists should have adequate clinical knowledge in order to effectively implement pharmaceutical care and manage DRPs. Objective To determine the clinical knowledge of community pharmacists in Croatia to detect and resolve DRPs. Method A sample of 302 community pharmacists have anonymously and voluntarily completed the validated survey-based clinical knowledge measurement tool. For each completed survey, all statements were scored individually, and a total score was calculated. The lowest possible total score was 0 and the highest was 80. Higher survey score indicates a higher level of clinical knowledge to detect and resolve a DRP. Results All community pharmacists had a mean score of 45.5 ± 8.6, while pharmacists from a pharmacy chain with mandatory education had a higher mean score of 50.2 ± 6.5. Multivariate linear regression revealed that only additional education (β = 0.272, p < 0.001) is associated with a higher mean score, while age and gender have no influence on the survey score. Conclusion Additional education of community pharmacists could increase their clinical knowledge to detect and resolve DRPs.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to increase the knowledge level of community pharmacists in Croatia to identify and resolve drug-related problems (DRPs).DesignBefore/after survey study.SettingUniversity of Split School of Medicine.Participants115 community pharmacists from all over the Croatia.InterventionsAn interactive 3-day clinical pharmacy workshop with the goal of increasing the knowledge level of community pharmacists in Croatia to identify and resolve DRPs in routine practice. Teaching methods were based on interactive clinical case solving.Outcome measureChange of the community pharmacists’ knowledge based on preworkshop and postworkshop evaluation. A survey-based clinical knowledge measurement tool was used in order to evaluate the efficacy of the workshop. The lowest possible total score was 0 and the highest was 80. A higher survey score indicates a higher level of clinical knowledge to identify and resolve DRPs.ResultsParticipating pharmacists had significantly higher postworkshop mean survey score (49.1±8.0) than the preworkshop mean survey score (42.9±8.2), with the mean score difference of 6.2 (95% CI 4.3 to 8.1). Furthermore, it was found that community pharmacists significantly increased their survey scores, regardless of their age.ConclusionsInteractive and case-based clinical pharmacy workshop could be a valuable tool to increase the knowledge of community pharmacists about identification and management of DRPs in routine practice. However, further studies are necessary to evaluate the long-term knowledge maintenance and the improvement in patients’ clinical outcomes.