Oral contraceptives: knowledge and counselling practices of Lebanese community pharmacists

Abstract

Objectives To examine the extent of Lebanese pharmacists’ knowledge about oral contraceptives (OCs), the characteristics influencing their knowledge and the factors that may predict their counselling practices. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between January and June 2020 in which a random sample of community pharmacists in Lebanon was asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The survey was divided into three sections including demographic information, pharmacists’ knowledge and counselling practices, and their perceptions about OCs. Key findings Of the 300 pharmacists invited to participate, 240 (80%) responded. The majority of the pharmacists (255; 85%) had satisfactory general knowledge about the indications, side effects, contraindications and drug interactions of OCs. However, only 173 (57.5%) participants had satisfactory knowledge about the proper use of OCs. Older pharmacists and those who have been in practice for more than 10 years achieved lower knowledge scores; however, those with postgraduate degrees had significantly higher scores. Pharmacists with a postgraduate degree and male pharmacists were less likely to counsel patients compared with their counterparts. Conversely, pharmacists with postgraduate OC training and those who had a private area for consultation presented better counselling practices. Conclusions More than half of the participating pharmacists appeared to have satisfactory knowledge about OCs and their proper use; however, limited counselling and key misconceptions were observed in this study.

Assessment of community pharmacists’ knowledge and counselling practices on oral contraceptives use

“…There was no significant association between religion and higher level of education and counselling practices on use of oral contraceptives among pharmacist in this study. Similarly, there was no significant association between gender (being female) and counselling practices of the pharmacists, which contradicts reports in previous studies, where female pharmacists provided better counselling compared to their male counterparts [25,26]. There was significant association between age and counselling practices, with respondents in their 20s and 30s providing better counselling compared to those above 40 years of age.…”

“…Previous studies have reported good knowledge among pharmacists [24,25]. In this study, there was no significant association between socio-demographics and additional degree in pharmacy or receiving of training on contraceptives on the participants' knowledge of oral contraceptives.…”

“…Generally, majority of the respondents had poor to moderate counselling practices towards patients in need of oral contraceptives as reported in some previous studies [6,25]. It was indicated the counselling practices of pharmacists on use of oral contraceptives in the study as suboptimal [6].…”

“…The exposure of participants in this study to training on family planning is not significantly associated to their counselling practices. This is contrary to [25], where community pharmacists in Lebanon with postgraduate oral contraceptive training provided better counselling compared to their counterparts. Furthermore, the knowledge of participants in this study on the use of oral contraceptives significantly influenced their counselling practice, which is similar to the report from a previous study [26].…”