Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Pharmacy Professionals Against Dispensing Antibiotics Without Prescription in Ethiopia

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is a global public health threat that warrants immediate intervention. Dispensing of antibiotics without prescription (DAWP), is an inappropriate practice that contributes significantly to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. The current study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of community pharmacists and pharmacy assistants towards DAWP. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, and data was collected from community pharmacists and pharmacy assistants during the eighth national pharmacist's day, which was held on December 4, 2021, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A pre-tested selfadministered questionnaire comprise of four sections (socio-demographic characteristics, and knowledge, attitude and practice towards DAWP) was used. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 and descriptive statistics (mean, percentage, standard deviation) were computed. Binary logistic regression was used to predict determinates of DAWP. Results: A total of 175 community pharmacy professional were invited in the study, with 158 (111 pharmacists and 47 pharmacy assistants) completing the survey for 90.3% response rate. Most of the participants (86.7%) were aware that DAWP is illegal in Ethiopia. Despite their knowledge, the extent of DAWP was found to be 67.7%. The most common reason given by study participants for DAWP was that most patients do not want to consult prescribers unless the infection appears serious (53.2%). Pharmacy professionals with educational background of masters and above (AOR= 0.354, 95% CI: 0.013-0.744, P= 0.045), and with two to five years of working in community pharmacy (AOR= 0.745, 95% CI: 0.595-0.933, P= 0.010) had a lower tendency to DAWP, respectively. Conclusion: Despite majority of pharmacy professional are aware that DAWP is illegal and contributes to antibiotic resistance, they commonly DAWP for common cold and diarrheal diseases. Strict enforcement of existing antibiotic supply policies, and ongoing educational support for community pharmacy professionals on the judicious use of antibiotics is recommended.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use and resistance among pharmacists in the Banadir region of Mogadishu Somalia

“…The proportion of pharmacists who dispensed antibiotics without a prescription was higher among male pharmacists. These ndings are consistent with the ndings of studies in Ethiopia [15] and Nigeria [20].…”

“…The study shows that most pharmacists (90.2%) were males and were between the ages of 19 and 29 (67%). These ndings are consistent with those of a study in Ethiopia [15], Kenya [16], Ghana [17], Pakistan [18], and India [19] but differ from the ndings of a study in Nigeria [20] and Bangladesh [21], which found that the majority of pharmacists were female and in the age group of 30-39 years. The higher proportion of male pharmacists in this study may be because pharmacy is a traditionally maledominated profession.…”

“…The study also found that the majority of pharmacists had less than 5 years of working experience (47.3%) and were from community-based pharmacy settings (82.9%). This is similar to the ndings of studies in Ethiopia [15], Kenya [16], Ghana [22] and Pakistan [18] but differs from the ndings of studies in Bangladesh [21] and Nigeria [20], which found that the majority of the pharmacists had more than 5 years of working experience and worked in hospital pharmacy settings. The short working experience of the pharmacists in this study is because the profession of pharmacy is relatively new, and many pharmacists are still in the early stages of their careers.…”

“…The majority of the participants were bachelor's degree holders (81.5%). This is similar to the percentage of pharmacists in Ethiopia [15], Nigeria [20], Pakistan [18] and Bangladesh [21] who have a bachelor's degree.…”

“…The study also found that only 19.8% of respondents studied pharmacy. This is lower than the percentage of pharmacists who studied pharmacy in Pakistan [18] and Ethiopia [15] but similar to the percentage of pharmacists who studied pharmacy in Bangladesh [21] and Nigeria [20]. The majority of the participants were bachelor's degree holders (81.5%).…”