The Health Status of Lebanese Community Pharmacists: Prevalence of Poor Lifestyle Behaviors and Chronic Conditions

Abstract

Background Community pharmacists are drug therapy experts providing pharmaceutical care for various patients. Their stressful daily tasks can affect their lifestyle and wellbeing. Objectives To assess the health status of the Lebanese community pharmacists, to determine the prevalence of chronic conditions and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, and their association with pharmacists’ professional responsibilities. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 randomly selected pharmacists between May and August 2017. A four-page questionnaire was carried out targeting their health characteristics, lifestyle factors, and job details. Results Thirty-seven percent of the studied sample were males, with a mean age of 30.9 ± 9.1 years and mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23.4 ± 3.71 kg/m 2 . Twenty-six percent were smokers and smoking was significantly related to gender, BMI, workplace region, work shifts, educational level, number of patients/day, and transportation time to work (p < 0.05 for all). Twenty-one percent were alcohol consumers, 89.3% were caffeine consumers, and 41.7% were physically active. Moreover, 72% were fast food consumers, 89.7% consumed sweets, and 87.7% consumed salted food. Concerning chronic diseases, 6.3% were hypertensive and hypertension was significantly related to age, marital status, education level, working hours per day, working days per week, owning a pharmacy, work shift, and the number of patients per day (p < 0.05 for all). Conclusion Lebanese pharmacists might have a lower prevalence of chronic diseases compared to the general population. However, the prevalence of bad lifestyle behaviors such as low physical activity, smoking, consumption of salt, sweet, fast food, and caffeine is considered high among the study sample and this would raise a concern about pharmacists' awareness and role as healthcare providers.

Pharmacy education and workforce: strategic recommendations based on expert consensus in Lebanon

“…Initial education Core competencies initial suggestion [48] Core competencies framework validation [49] Core competencies assessment [50] Preceptors' skills and competencies framework [51] Specialized competencies suggestion [52] Interprofessional education experience and suggestions [53][54][55] Computer literacy scale validation among pharmacists [56] Continuing education (CE) Continuing education assessment [57] Continuing education preference [58,59] Continuing education value and motivation [60] Job market and workforce situation Workforce oversupply and future projections [10] Mismatch between education and labor market [61] Governance solutions for workforce problems [62] Pharmacy specialties recognition (credentialing) [63] Early career training in Lebanon and benchmarking towards the FIP Global Competency Framework [64] Empathy towards patients among pharmacists [65] Quality of life of pharmacists [66] Burnout among community pharmacists [67,68] Financial situation analysis of pharmacists [69] Community pharmacists' readiness for COVID-19 [70] Physical Health of pharmacists [71] Unapproved suggested laws and decisions Legal documents suggestions by the Lebanese Order of Pharmacists: Clinical pharmacy law; Numerus clausus law, Pharmacy education prolongation, credentials recognition and Early career training [72] Licensure assessment improvement (colloquium) [72] Experiential education organization [73] Ready-to-apply educational project Standards for pharmacy education accreditation & Guidance for pharmacy programs accreditation [74] Practice Good Pharmacy Practice standards suggestion [75] Good Pharmacy Practice assessment [76] Medication safety assessment [77]…”