Knowledge and Practices of Community Pharmacists in Topical Dermatological Treatments

Abstract

The connection between pharmacists’ knowledge and practice on the provided information to patients about dermatoses and their treatment is insufficiently characterized. Furthermore, pharmacists’ contributions in counselling and in promoting adherence to topical treatment is not fully understood. This study has three main objectives. It aims to identify the knowledge and practices of pharmacists about dermatoses and their treatment, and to compare the perspective of pharmacists with that of patients regarding treatment information, with the future goal of establishing guidelines on the communication of dosage regimen instructions to dermatological patients and promotion of adherence to treatment, filling a gap. A cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study was carried out. Based on experts’ prior knowledge and extensive collected literature information, two questionnaire protocols, one for pharmacists and another one for patients, were designed. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were carried out in relation to the pharmacists’ questionnaire for instrument validation. The results indicate that knowledge of pharmacists regarding dermatoses and their treatment is considered acceptable. Most of the pharmacists were reported to provide information to patients. Oppositely, patients reported not to have receive it. This is an important issue because pharmacists play a primary role in the management of several diseases. As non-adherence can be triggered by poor understanding of the dosing instructions, pharmacists’ communication practices play an important role in improving this hinderance. Results from this study identified pharmacist–patient communication gaps, so the development of guidelines to improve the transmission of clear dosage regimen instructions and knowledge about patient’s disease are of paramount importance. Training programs for continuous education of pharmacist should be implemented to solve the identified communication problems found in this study.

Community pharmacists’ counseling practices and patient experiences about topical corticosteroids – an online survey in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

“…This was consistent with the pharmacists’ self-reported behaviours of information provision. These results differ from a previous study by Teixeira et al showing inconsistencies between pharmacists’ self-reported behaviour and patients’ claims where only 1 in 4 patients was informed of the dosage and 1 in 3 were provided with information about the duration of use of the medication prescribed [ 14 ]. Pharmacists are more likely to provide information about adverse effects of TCS if they perceive that patient are unaware but withhold further information to avoid the development or perpetuation of steroid phobia [ 13 , 21 ].…”

“…The key factors associated with the quality of counseling and the role CPs play in encouraging high-quality counseling practices are vital to ensure patients’ safe and effective use of TCS. A previous study conducted in Portugal identified that less than 18.2% of patients received information on dosage, frequency, and duration of application of topical medication [ 14 ]. While studies have been conducted on the use of topical medications among patients with psoriasis [ 15 ] and on pharmacists’ knowledge about the use of topical antibacterials in Malaysia [ 16 ], the counseling practices of TCS have previously not been studied.…”

Does the Vehicle Matter? Real-World Evidence on Adherence to Topical Treatment in Psoriasis

“…It is noteworthy that a higher mass was used when small areas were involved (Table 4). This may be related to difficulty in establishing the correct dose to be applied [42] and controlling the amount removed from the tube/recipient. In view of these findings, a topical dosing applicator that allows a dose to be dispensed with greater accuracy and precision [43] and an adequate methodology to measure the affected area [44] may contribute to better clarification of dosing instructions to patients.…”

Dermatitis in community pharmacies: a survey on italian pharmacists’ management and implications on corticophobia

“…Particularly in atopic dermatitis, adherence to topical corticosteroids is low, with higher adherence rates among patients who follow these treatments for short periods of time (Ahn et al 2017). In general, non-adherence can be triggered by a lack of understanding of the instructions on the use of topical therapy: therefore, counseling and communication from pharmacists play a key role in improving compliance (Teixeira et al 2021).…”