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Knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits towards antibiotics dispensed without medical prescription: a qualitative study of Spanish pharmacists.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To investigate community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits with regard to antibiotic dispensing without medical prescription in Spain. METHODS:A qualitative research using focus group method (FG) in Galicia (north-west Spain). FG sessions were conducted in the presence of a moderator. A topic script was developed to lead the discussions, which were audiorecorded to facilitate data interpretation and transcription. Proceedings were transcribed by an independent researcher and interpreted by two researchers working independently. We used the Grounded Theory approach. SETTING:Community pharmacies in Galicia, region Norwest of Spain. PARTICIPANTS:Thirty pharmacists agreed to participate in the study, and a total of five FG sessions were conducted with 2-11 pharmacists. We sought to ensure a high degree of heterogeneity in the composition of the groups to improve our study's external validity. Pharmacists' participation had no gender or age restrictions, and an effort was made to form FGs with pharmacists who were both owners and non-owners, provided in all cases that they were Official Colleges of Pharmacists-registered community pharmacists. For the purpose of conducting FG discussions, the basic methodological principle of allowing groups to attain their 'own structural identity' was applied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS:Community pharmacists' habits and knowledge with regard to antibiotics and identification of the attitudes and/or factors that influence antibiotic dispensing without medical prescription. RESULTS:Pharmacists attributed the problem of antibiotics dispensed without medical prescription and its relationship to antibiotic resistance to the following attitudes: external responsibility (doctors, dentists and the National Health Service (NHS)); acquiescence; indifference and lack of continuing education. CONCLUSIONS:Despite being a problem, antibiotic dispensing without a medical prescription is still a common practice in community pharmacies in Galicia, Spain. This practice is attributed to acquiescence, indifference and lack of continuing education. The problem of resistance was ascribed to external responsibility, including that of patients, physicians, dentists and the NHS.

SUBMITTER: Vazquez-Lago J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5640063 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits towards antibiotics dispensed without medical prescription: a qualitative study of Spanish pharmacists.

Vazquez-Lago Juan J Gonzalez-Gonzalez Cristian C Zapata-Cachafeiro Maruxa M Lopez-Vazquez Paula P Taracido Margarita M López Ana A Figueiras Adolfo A

BMJ open 20171008 10

<h4>Objective</h4>To investigate community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits with regard to antibiotic dispensing without medical prescription in Spain.<h4>Methods</h4>A qualitative research using focus group method (FG) in Galicia (north-west Spain). FG sessions were conducted in the presence of a moderator. A topic script was developed to lead the discussions, which were audiorecorded to facilitate data interpretation and transcription. Proceedings were transcribed by a ...[more]

PMID: 28993379

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Project description:BackgroundPharmacogenetics practice has been successfully implemented in many developed countries to enhance personalized medicine and improve clinical and economic outcomes. An understanding of healthcare providers' knowledge, perceptions, confidence towards pharmacogenetics, and their active enrollment with pharmacogenetic testing is essential for test acceptance and utilization. This study was designed to assess physicians' and pharmacists' knowledge, perceptions, and confidence towards pharmacogenetics, determine the preferred learning format for their future education in pharmacogenetics, and identify the barriers to its application in their practice settings.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted using a pretested self-administered questionnaire on a sample of 629 randomly selected physicians and pharmacists. Descriptive and comparative analyses were used in data analysis.ResultsThe response rate was 98.1%. Less than one-tenth of respondents were exposed to pharmacogenetics education or training (8.9%), applied pharmacogenetics testing in their practice (9.4%), or provided patient counselling on the results of the pharmacogenetic testing (9.1%), and over 90% of them were physicians. The overall respondents' mean (SD) total knowledge score percentage was low [45.0% (24)] and there was no significant difference between the physicians and pharmacists scores (p>0.05). Only 16.0% of participants indicated that they felt confident in applying pharmacogenetics in their practice settings. Despite these low levels of knowledge and self-confidence, 70.2% of participants expressed overall positive perceptions towards pharmacogenetics and its clinical implications. These positive overall perceptions were found to be significantly more common among pharmacists compared to physicians (p<0.05). The top two perceived barriers facing the implementation of pharmacogenetics in Kuwait were lack of education or training and clinical guidelines.ConclusionsThese findings highlight important concerns and will aid in the assessment of current pharmacogenetics practice. Also, they will provide further insight in designing future targeted multifaceted interventions to promote the adoption and utilization of pharmacogenetics testing in Kuwait.

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Knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits towards antibiotics dispensed without medical prescription: a qualitative study of Spanish pharmacists.

Publications

Knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits towards antibiotics dispensed without medical prescription: a qualitative study of Spanish pharmacists.

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