Community pharmacists’ knowledge, perceptions, and practices about topical corticosteroid counseling: A real-world cross-sectional survey and focus group discussions in Korea

Abstract

Topical corticosteroids (TCs) are widely used to treat dermatological conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. It can be a safe and effective treatment when used appropriately. However, misguided information and corticosteroid phobia appear to contribute to inadequate adherence to therapy, leading to unsatisfactory treatment outcomes. Therefore, community pharmacists (CPs) are in a prime position to inform patients about the appropriate use of medicine. The aim of this study was to examine how the knowledge and perceptions of CPs, as well as other factors, associate CPs’ patient counseling practice around the use of TCs. A structured, validated questionnaire was distributed to CPs in the Republic of Korea, and additional focus group discussions were implemented to obtain a deeper understanding of the survey findings. We analyzed the survey results by applying a modified knowledge-perception-practice model. In addition, we used path analysis to validate the model and assessed how knowledge level and perceptions of barriers affect CPs’ counseling behavior. We ran a multiple regression to identify factors that associate CPs’ practice levels. A total of 1018 surveys were analyzed. In general, respondents had sufficient knowledge to provide appropriate patient counseling on TC use. An increase in knowledge level positively associated the quality of practice, and more knowledge increased the perception of barriers that negatively associated patient counseling. Location in rural areas and pharmacists’ perception of counseling barriers negatively associated the quality of practice. A higher level of knowledge, training in ADEs, higher proportion of OTC TC sales, and increased time for counseling positively associated the quality of practice. Therefore, minimizing barriers such as negative perceptions is very important in facilitating CPs’ counseling practice around TC use.

Reducing corticosteroid phobia in pharmacy staff and parents of children with atopic dermatitis

“…In addition, other training pharmacy programs have shown to be effective in improving pharmacy staffs' knowledge and skills with positive impact on patient outcomes [23][24][25][26]. Kang et al [27] showed that an increase in community pharmacists' knowledge level about topical corticosteroids positively associated the quality of practice.…”

Abuse of Topical Glucocorticoids among Patients Visiting Community Pharmacy in Basrah-Iraq

“…low level of patients counseling may be due to lack of information or time, the patients feel negatively about topical glucocorticoids or/and the physicians feel negatively about the counseling for topical glucocorticoids by the pharmacists. Min Jung Kang et al found that bad feeling and physicians attitude was the most barrier for counseling (9) .…”

“…Usually Iraqi patient keeps the prescription after being dispensed to refill it again with or without medical supervision which may encourage drug abuse or misuse (8) . Low level of patients counseling and education or insufficient knowledge of healthcare providers decrease patients adherence and awareness about the side effect of glucocorticoids (9) (10) .…”

Information or Habit: What Health Policy Makers Should Know about the Drivers of Self-Medication among Romanians

“…One major topic of interest in recent years has been the use of antibiotics [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], especially in treating flu symptoms and colds. One common framework, as well as its variations, that has been used in the study of antibiotics use is the Knowledge–Perception–Practice (KPP) approach, which assesses what is known, believed and done about self-medication, capturing both cognitive and non-cognitive aspects relevant for self-medication behavior [ 24 ]. The main assumption underlying the model is that, by altering knowledge and perception, practices can be changed [ 25 ].…”

“…There is a currently little work on possible predictors of general self-medication practices beyond research on choices for specific medications (e.g., antibiotics). Furthermore, the available research has reported differences across European countries and a relative lack of studies in Eastern European countries such as Romania [ 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Our study aimed to contribute to the literature by investigating views on self-medication practices in Romania.…”