Medication counselling and dispensing practices at community pharmacies: a comparative cross sectional study from Pakistan

Hussain, Azhar; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed

doi:10.1007/s11096-011-9554-6

Cited by 41 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus, diagnosis was made on just signs and symptoms told by the patient without further probing and nearly remedy was suggested by all the pharmacies for the treatment of dyspepsia. Similar, practices were reported by various studies in developing countries including Pakistan (10,19). However, the process of history taking can help in differential diagnosis which can facilitate appropriate treatment protocols for the community health workers for their subjected disease and can result in better patient outcomes (20).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Assessment of case management of dyspepsia at community pharmacies in two cities of Pakistan

Malik¹

2013

mpj

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to document the management of dyspepsia by community pharmacies in two major cities of Pakistan; Islamabad (national capital) and Rawalpindi (twin city).A comparative, cross-sectional study was designed to document the management of dyspepsia including history taking and provision of advice at 238 randomly selected pharmacies through simulated patient visits in twin cities of Pakistan. Kruskal-Wallis test and ManWhitney test (p ≤ 0.05) were used to compare management of dyspepsia by the dispensers working at community pharmacies handled by different provider types in the two cities.The simulated patients were dealt by a pharmacy salesperson in 75.6% (n= 180) of visits. Medication was dispensed in 73.5% (n= 175) of the visits, while in 10.9% (n= 26) of the cases the customer was referred directly to a physician. No significant difference at (p ≤ 0.05) was observed among history taking and advice provision in treatment of dyspepsia by the dispensers working at community pharmacies handled by different provider types and situated at different settings in the two cities.This study highlighted poor case management and dispensing practices of dyspepsia at community pharmacies in Pakistan. Absence of qualified people, lack of provision of advice and lack of professionalism by the dispensers are the main reasons for the poor quality of services at community pharmacies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Assessment of case management of dyspepsia at community pharmacies in two cities of Pakistan

Malik¹

2013

mpj

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Proper ARI management includes history taking, clinical examination when appropriate, illness counselling, treatment with appropriate medication, and timely referral [20, 30]. Educational interventions designed to improve drug-dispensing, referral practices and the reduction of inappropriate medication use have been tested among drug sellers in other countries [20, 26, 31–35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of an educational intervention to improve antibiotic dispensing practices for acute respiratory illness among drug sellers in pharmacies, a pilot study in Bangladesh

Chowdhury

Sturm‐Ramirez

Mamun

et al. 2018

BMC Health Serv Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundInappropriate dispensing of antibiotics for acute respiratory illness (ARI) is common among drug sellers in Bangladesh. In this study, we evaluated the impact of an educational intervention to promote guidelines for better ARI management among drug sellers.MethodsFrom June 2012 to December 2013, we conducted baseline and post-intervention surveys on dispensing practices in 100 pharmacies within Dhaka city. In these surveys, drug sellers participated in 6 standardized role-playing scenarios led by study staffs acting as caregivers of ARI patients and drug sellers were blinded to these surveys. After the baseline survey, we developed ARI guidelines and facilitated a one-day educational intervention about ARI management for drug sellers. Our guidelines only recommended antibiotics for children with complicated ARI. Finally, we conducted the six month post-intervention survey using the same scenarios to record changes in drug dispensing practices.ResultsOnly 2/3 of participating pharmacies were licensed and few (11%) of drug sellers had pharmacy training. All the drug sellers were male, had a median age of 34 years (IQR 28–41). For children, dispensing of antibiotics for uncomplicated ARI decreased (30% baseline vs. 21% post-intervention; p = 0.04), but drug sellers were equally likely to dispense antibiotics for complicated ARI (15% baseline vs. 17% post-intervention; p = 0.6) and referrals to physicians for complicated ARIs decreased (70% baseline vs. 58% post-intervention; p = 0.03). For adults, antibiotic dispensing remained similar for uncomplicated ARI (48% baseline vs. 40% post-intervention; p = 0.1) but increased among those with complicated ARI (44% baseline vs. 78% post-intervention; p < 0.001). Although our evidence-based guidelines recommended against prescribing antihistamines for children, drug sellers continued to sell similar amounts for uncomplicated ARI (33% baseline vs. 32% post-intervention; p = 0.9).ConclusionsDespite the intervention, drug sellers continued to frequently dispense antibiotics for ARI, except for children with uncomplicated ARI. Pairing educational interventions among drug sellers with raising awareness about proper antibiotic use among general population should be further explored. In addition, annual licensing and an reaccreditation system with comprehensive monitoring should be enforced, using penalties for non-compliant pharmacies as possible incentives for appropriate dispensing practices.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3486-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

“…According to a recent systematic review finding, community pharmacists led counseling services result in a better clinical and self-reported outcome, including a higher level of satisfaction, quality of life, and economic benefits 7. However, the extended role of community pharmacists in developing countries is not satisfactory and their role is largely confined to dispensing of medications and seldom offers patient-oriented services 8,9,10. In Ethiopia, there are more than 650 community pharmacists, which are divided into pharmacy, drug store and rural drug vendors based on the type of medications they are supposed to dispense and the qualification of dispensers 11…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-reported and actual involvement of community pharmacists in patient counseling: a cross-sectional and simulated patient study in Gondar, Ethiopia

Surur

Getachew

Teressa

et al. 2017

Pharm Pract (Granada)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background:Community pharmacists play a crucial role in reducing medication related health problems and improving the patient’s overall wellbeing. Evidence suggests that community pharmacist led counseling services result in a better clinical and self-reported outcome, including a higher level of satisfaction and quality of life.Objective:This study aims to document self-reported and actual levels of community pharmacists’ involvement in the provision of patient counseling and barriers that limit their involvement in such services.Methods:Simulated patient visits and a cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists were employed in Gondar town, Ethiopia between March 15 and May 15, 2016 to observe actual counseling practices and to assess their reported counseling practices respectively. Four different scenarios were developed for the simulated patient visit. A well designed questionnaire and an assessment form were used for the survey and simulated patient visit.Results:In the cross-sectional survey, 84 pharmacists were approached and 78 agreed to participate (92.8 % response rate). Of the respondents, 96.1% agreed/strongly agreed that patient counseling is important and 69.3% strongly agreed that patient counseling should be a professional duty. The most frequent information provided to patients were dosing schedule of drugs, how to take medication, and drug-food interaction. Majority of community pharmacists either strongly agreed (42.1%) or agreed (51.3%) that patients are comfortable towards their counseling practice. A total of 48 simulated visits were conducted and a medicine was dispensed in all visits. In all four scenarios, dosage schedule (100%), how to take medication (97.6%) and drug-food interaction (69.1%) were the most common type of information provided while what to do when dose is missed (100%), contraindication (95.2%) and the importance of compliance or adherence (92.9%) were the most commonly ignored types of information.Conclusions:The present study emphasizes the existing gap in self-reported and actual counseling practices by community pharmacist in Gondar town, Ethiopia. Hence, the ministry of health, local health policy makers and other stakeholders should collaborate to design interventions to improve community pharmacists’ dispensing and counseling practice.

show abstract

Medication counselling and dispensing practices at community pharmacies: a comparative cross sectional study from Pakistan

Cited by 41 publications

References 20 publications

Assessment of case management of dyspepsia at community pharmacies in two cities of Pakistan

Assessment of case management of dyspepsia at community pharmacies in two cities of Pakistan

Effectiveness of an educational intervention to improve antibiotic dispensing practices for acute respiratory illness among drug sellers in pharmacies, a pilot study in Bangladesh

Self-reported and actual involvement of community pharmacists in patient counseling: a cross-sectional and simulated patient study in Gondar, Ethiopia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About