Community pharmacists' preparedness and responses to COVID-19 pandemic: A multinational study.
Journal
International journal of clinical practice
ISSN: 1742-1241
Titre abrégé: Int J Clin Pract
Pays: India
ID NLM: 9712381
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Sep 2021
Sep 2021
Historique:
received:
04
02
2021
accepted:
14
05
2021
pubmed:
31
5
2021
medline:
18
8
2021
entrez:
30
5
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Community pharmacists play a pivotal role in healthcare worldwide. Their role became more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the community pharmacists' preparedness and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and how efficiently they were prepared to contain and prevent the spread of infection. An online questionnaire was distributed to community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan through social media platforms. A scoring system was developed to measure their level of adherence to the preventive measures of the global infection. The total included responses were 800. Around 44% of the pharmacists reported spending less than 15 min/d reading about COVID-19 updates. Although more than half of them were reviewing official sites, 73% of them were also retrieving information through non-official channels. Additionally, almost 35% of them were directly contacting customers without physical barriers, 81% reported encountering infected customers, and 12% wore the same facial masks for more than a day. Moreover, 58% of the pharmacies reported the absence of door signs requesting infected customers to declare the infection, 43% of the pharmacies were not limiting the number of simultaneous customers, and 70% were not measuring customers' temperatures prior to entry. Collectively, the mean total score of applied protective measures was 10.12 ± 2.77 (out of 17). The level of preparedness of the community pharmacies in these three Middle Eastern countries was not adequate for facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities in these countries should closely monitor their adherence to the protective guidelines.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Community pharmacists play a pivotal role in healthcare worldwide. Their role became more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the community pharmacists' preparedness and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and how efficiently they were prepared to contain and prevent the spread of infection.
METHODS
METHODS
An online questionnaire was distributed to community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan through social media platforms. A scoring system was developed to measure their level of adherence to the preventive measures of the global infection.
RESULTS
RESULTS
The total included responses were 800. Around 44% of the pharmacists reported spending less than 15 min/d reading about COVID-19 updates. Although more than half of them were reviewing official sites, 73% of them were also retrieving information through non-official channels. Additionally, almost 35% of them were directly contacting customers without physical barriers, 81% reported encountering infected customers, and 12% wore the same facial masks for more than a day. Moreover, 58% of the pharmacies reported the absence of door signs requesting infected customers to declare the infection, 43% of the pharmacies were not limiting the number of simultaneous customers, and 70% were not measuring customers' temperatures prior to entry. Collectively, the mean total score of applied protective measures was 10.12 ± 2.77 (out of 17).
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
The level of preparedness of the community pharmacies in these three Middle Eastern countries was not adequate for facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities in these countries should closely monitor their adherence to the protective guidelines.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34053167
doi: 10.1111/ijcp.14421
pmc: PMC8236935
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e14421Informations de copyright
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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