Barriers to the provision of asthma services and perceived practice towards asthma management among urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

This study aims to assess the perceived practice and barriers towards the provision of asthma management services among urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia. The study also highlights both pharmacist and patient-related barriers in asthma counseling. One hundred fifty urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia, were randomly selected and recruited for the present cross sectional baseline study. Previous studies have explored pharmacists' perception on their roles in asthma management in different parts of the world. The data was collected through self-explanatory questionnaires (containing 47 items). The extracted data from the completed questionnaires were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19. Results showed that pharmacists perceived their roles in asthma management along three major dimensions: 'patient self-management', 'medication use' and 'asthma control', mean (±SD) score of the perception towards asthma management was 99.29 ± 4.58 over a maximum possible score of 110 with 90.26%. There were significant differences between the pharmacy education level and perceived practice of asthma management while there were insignificant differences between age, gender, ethnicity, number of practicing year and perceived practice of asthma management among respondents. Most common barriers towards asthma counselling including lack of time, lack of asthma knowledge, lack of counselling space and cost of asthma drugs. Conclusively, urban community pharmacists in Selangor, Malaysia, demonstrate good perceived practice of better management of asthma with multidimensional dimensional role against in disease care.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacists regarding asthma management: a cross-sectional study in Egypt

“…For patient-related factors the highest mean weighted score was for lack of patient time (4.13) plus patient perception that it is not the pharmacist role (3.84). Similar types of barriers were also identified in several previous studies [ 3 , 34 ]. Understanding and addressing these barriers are of prime importance in developing tailored intervention asthma programs that achieve the desirable optimum asthma care.…”

“…For pharmacist-related factors, the highest mean weighted score was for barriers, such as lack of pharmacist time (4.13), lack of pharmacist confidence in skills in asthma monitoring (3.56), management (3.16), counseling (2.69), and besides lack of financial incentive (3.43). Similarly, other previous studies have consistently reported lack of pharmacists time and education as major barriers to provision of asthma care services [ 3 ]. For patient-related factors the highest mean weighted score was for lack of patient time (4.13) plus patient perception that it is not the pharmacist role (3.84).…”

“…Recently, pharmacists’ role has greatly evolved from being medication dispensers to provision of real patient care. Asthma is a typical example of a chronic disease state in which pharmacists are uniquely positioned to provide the needed interventions for a more comprehensive and cost-effective disease management [ 3 ].…”

Implementing a collaborative medicine and pharmacy educational activity in two countries

“…Prior research suggests the need for doctors and pharmacists to work together to improve long-term asthma control[ 16 ]. In both Australia and Malaysia, a key barrier to effective asthma counselling is a lack of role understanding among health professionals [ 17 , 18 ]. In Australia, the national asthma strategy promotes a holistic approach to the care of patients in order to reduce the impact of asthma on individuals, the community, and the economy[ 19 ].…”

Systematic review on the effects of the physical and social aspects of community pharmacy spaces on service users and staff

“… 46 , 47 , 51 In some regions, pharmacies did not have a separate consultation area. 45 , 61 , 63 Having a private consultation room or a dedicated private area was considered important, 33 , 60 , 98 as this allowed participants to have confidential conversations with the pharmacist. 50 …”