Community Pharmacy Experiences and Attitudes towards Diabetes Managment

Abstract

Abstract:To measure the experiences, knowledge and attitudes of community pharmacists in Jordan towards diabetes and its management. The validated diabetes knowledge survey tool obtained from Simpson et al, 2009 was modified to suit the Jordanian population of community pharmacists. It contains two sections related to the services that pharmacists provided to diabetics patients and attitude toward health care professionals. The random sampling selection method was used and oral interviews using modified questionnaires were administered to measure the attitudes of pharmacists in Jordan towards diabetes. Random selection was achieved via numbering lists of 1,000 community pharmacists with 500 being chosen randomly across the country. In a total of 422 completed survey (84.4%), more than 60% of the pharmacists showed that they "sometimes" counsel diabetic patients. In addition, home blood glucose monitoring was promoted by around half of them. Only a small part of them showed that that they checked prescriptions for drug interactions. The most of them showed not to provide patients with information regarding insulin use and storage. The most of them showed that absence of time and lack of continuous education programs are the main barriers limiting community interaction with diabetic patients. Pharmacists should be provided with continuous diabetes education programs to increase and enhance their counseling skills. The community pharmacists should play a greater role toward the well being of diabetic patients.