A national study to assess pharmacists’ preparedness against COVID-19 during its rapid rise period in Pakistan

Abstract

To evaluate the pharmacist’s preparedness against the COVID-19 during its rapid rise period in Pakistan, an online cross-sectional study was carried out from March 30 to May 22, 2020 among the pharmacists using a pre-validated self-administered questionnaire. A total of 1149 participants completed the survey, amongst which 430(37.9%) were working as retail pharmacists, 216 (18.8%) as community pharmacists, and 213(18.5%) as hospital pharmacists. The mean COVID-19 knowledge score of the participants was 6.77±0.5, which indicated that 84% of them had good knowledge about COVID-19. The multiple linear regression model revealed that attitude was significantly associated with gender (p = 0.001), marital status (p<0.0001) and resident (p = 0.013). The mean practice score was 2.85±0.4, showing that 94% of the participants were following adequate preventive practices against this infection. The results from this study suggest that Pharmacists demonstrated good knowledge, positive attitudes, and acceptable practices regarding COVID-19.

An Overview of the Treatment Options Used for the Management of COVID-19 in Pakistan: Retrospective Observational Study

“…Our results show that the highest proportion of admissions occurred in the month of June (846/1562, 54.2%), just after Eid-ul-Fitr (the Muslim festival, which was held on May 23 and 24 in 2020). It is worth noting that this was the time when the first wave of COVID-19 infections was at its peak in Pakistan; however, the trend of the treatment regimen remained the same during the period of the first wave [ 35 - 37 ]. However, after this period, a dramatic decrease in infections was observed due to effective precautions and regulations imposed by the government, including “smart lockdown” in potential hotspots, implementation of standard operating procedures, and closure of academic buildings [ 38 ].…”

Knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures against COVID-19 among nurses: a questionnaire-based multicenter cross-sectional study

“…This probably meant that female nurses were more knowledgeable about COVID-19 compared to their male counterparts. In a study using similar knowledge items among pharmacists in Pakistan, female pharmacists reported higher knowledge scores compared to their male counterparts [ 27 ]. These findings were consistent with those reported in previous studies in which there were differences in knowledge between male and female nurses in different countries including knowledge about COVID-19 [ 22 , 29 , 41 , 43 , 45 – 47 ].…”

“…The study tool was adopted from previous studies that were conducted among healthcare providers [ 27 , 42 – 44 ]. The paper-based questionnaire was handed to potential participants through a personal contact in the healthcare centers/hospitals.…”

“…In the first section of the questionnaire used in this study, nurses were asked to report their gender. Previous studies reported differences in knowledge, attitudes, and use of protective measures against COVID-19 among male and female healthcare providers [ 22 , 27 , 29 , 41 , 43 , 45 – 47 ]. The nurses were also asked to self-rate their satisfaction with their financial status, social status, academic achievements, and perceived knowledge about COVID-19 using a Likert-scale of 1–3 (1 = low, 3 = high).…”

An Overview of the Treatment Options Used for the Management of COVID-19 in Pakistan: Retrospective Observational Study (Preprint)

“…Our results show that the highest proportion of admissions occurred in the month of June (846/1562, 54.2%), just after Eid-ul-Fitr (the Muslim festival, which was held on May 23 and 24 in 2020). It is worth noting that this was the time when the first wave of COVID-19 infections was at its peak in Pakistan; however, the trend of the treatment regimen remained the same during the period of the first wave [35][36][37]. However, after this period, a dramatic decrease in infections was observed due to effective precautions and regulations imposed by the government, including "smart lockdown" in potential hotspots, implementation of standard operating procedures, and closure of academic buildings [38].…”