Community pharmacists’ knowledge of COPD, and practices and perceptions of medication counseling of COPD patients

Abstract

Background and purposeCOPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although medication counseling interventions by pharmacists have been found to support the management of COPD, little is known about pharmacists’ knowledge concerning COPD and regular practices and perceptions concerning medication counseling of COPD patients. The purpose of this study was to research these topics among Finnish community pharmacists.Materials and methodsIn January 2017, an electronic survey was e-mailed to Finnish community pharmacies (n=741) via the Association of the Finnish Pharmacies. One pharmacist from each pharmacy, preferably a specialist in asthma, was invited to answer the survey.ResultsCompleted responses were received from 263 pharmacists (response rate =35%), of whom 196 pharmacists were specialists in asthma. Response rate among asthma pharmacists was 42%. Pharmacists were positive about their role in medication counseling and in support of the self-management of COPD patients. COPD-related knowledge was self-assessed as being good and was on a good level in respect of basic facts. However, almost half (46%) of the pharmacists did not know that COPD is considered a national public health issue, and ~50% of the pharmacists were not familiar with the current care guideline on COPD. Medication counseling was found to be more medicinal product-driven and less advisory concerning lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation and physical exercise.ConclusionAlthough the pharmacists’ knowledge of COPD was good on general topics, there were some gaps in their knowledge on the current care guideline and status of the disease. Pharmacists should more systematically individually target medication counseling according to patients’ needs. In addition, lifestyle treatments, including smoking cessation and physical exercise, should be part of the medication counseling.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Lebanese Community Pharmacists toward Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…Moreover, results revealed that 48.9% of pharmacists have a positive attitude and perceive that they can be instrumental providers of medication-related counseling and of support for COPD patients' treatment; our results are lower than those obtained in a Finnish study where most community pharmacists considered COPD patients counseling to be meaningful and that they play an important role in COPD patients' treatment [40]. This is expected given the developing status of Lebanon versus that of Finland, a well-developed country.…”

“…The results from this study show that over half (52.3%) of the community pharmacists self-assessed to have good knowledge of COPD key issues and up-to-date care guidelines. Our results are similar to another Finnish study who agreed that community pharmacists were familiar with the COPD guidelines [40]. Other reported studies in Europe identified that the level of knowledge is suboptimal.…”

“…While a recent study by van der Molen et al [39] acknowledged that key providers of support for patients with COPD are community pharmacists, this study is the first evaluating KAP of Lebanese community pharmacists toward COPD patients. In addition, to our knowledge, there is only one other study conducted worldwide addressing the same topic [40].…”

<p>Promoting Community Pharmacy Practice for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Management: A Systematic Review and Logic Model</p>

“…Fifteen countries were involved in the studies, with the most common study locations including the UK (n=5), Belgium (n=3), Australia (n=2), Canada (n=2), Spain (n=2), and the USA (n=2). The included studies involved both patient and pharmacist as participants, in A Primary prevention A1 Smoking cessation 24,25,[27][28][29][30]32,33,35,36,38,39,43,45,48 A2 Lifestyle advice 36,38,43 B Early detection B1 Assess patient risk and health status 24,35,36,40,41 B2 Self-diagnosis questionnaire 24,25,30,35,36,45,47 B3 Spirometry testing 24,30,35,40,47 B4 Referral/recommend high-risk customer to doctor 24,30,35,36,40,43,47 C Therapy management C1 General service in pharmacy 25,[27][28][29][31]…”

“…24,35,36 On the other hand, for patients already diagnosed with COPD, the pharmacist needs to ask them whether they smoke, inform them about the risks of smoking, and encourage them to quit . 25,[27][28][29][30]32,33,38,39,43,45,48 Other high-risk factors, such as diet and nutrition, 36,43 weight control, 36,43 drinking, 36 and other lifestyle changes that reduce the incidence and progression of diseases, have also been mentioned.…”