The Needs and Resources of Drug Information at Community Pharmacies in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacists are in a key position to provide information on drugs and thus promote the rational use of drugs. OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to determine the needs and resources of drug information in community pharmacies. METHODS: A prospective institution based cross-sectional study was carried out and data were collected on 48 community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, using interviewer administered structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Almost all pharmacists (N = 47, 97.9%) often receive drug related queries and these were mainly from consumers (N = 41, 85.4%). While most questions relate to drug price (N = 29, 60.4%) and dosage (N = 21, 43.8%), the information resources mainly referred to were drug package inserts and national standard treatment guidelines. However, limited availability of information resources as well as limited ability to retrieve relevant information influenced the practice of pharmacists. Female pharmacists claimed better use of different information resources than males (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, are often accessed for drug related information. But there are limitations in using up to date and most reliable resources. Therefore, intervention aimed at improving pharmacists' access to and evaluation of drug information is urgently needed.

Herbal Medicines: Personal Use, Knowledge, Attitude, Dispensing Practice, and the Barriers among Community Pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Herbal medicine use is increasing and the global market is estimated to be US$107 billion by the year 2017. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at assessing community pharmacists' personal use, knowledge, attitude, dispensing practice, and the barriers regarding herbal medicines. METHODS: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 47 community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, using a structured interviewing questionnaire. RESULTS: Nearly half of the respondents (n = 22, 46.8%) sometimes use herbal medicines. Although knowledge related to such preparations was self-rated as poor/acceptable (n = 34, 72.4%), majority (n = 44, 93.7%) of community pharmacists agree/strongly agree that herbal medicines have beneficial effects. Only 6 (12.7%) of them are sometimes/often engaged in dispensing herbal medicines and most of them (n = 34, 72.3%) rarely/never counseled clients regarding these preparations. Limited knowledge on and access to information regarding herbal medicines are the main barriers to the pharmacists' practice. CONCLUSION: Although community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, commonly use and demonstrated good attitude towards herbal medicines, they are less involved in dispensing such products. They are also challenged with limited knowledge on and access to herbal medicine information. Thus, pharmacy educators, professional organizations, and the government shall pay more attention to solve the problem. Regulatory provisions on herbal medicine dispensing must be enacted and communicated very well.

Practice and Barriers towards Provision of Health Promotion Services among Community Pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Health promotion is now becoming an integral part of community pharmacy practice worldwide. OBJECTIVES: This study was intended to determine the level of involvement of community pharmacists in providing health promotion service and to identify the barriers to the practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 48 community pharmacists working in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. Data on sociodemographic factors, practice, and barriers to health promotion service were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The majority of respondents were B.Pharm holders (n = 27, 56.3%). Almost all respondents (n = 45, 95.8%) were willing and claimed to be well involved in health promotion services. The top 5 services were related to drug misuse, asthma, diabetes, family planning, and cardiovascular diseases. However, involvement in some types of health promotion services significantly differed based on sex, educational level, and pharmacy ownership of respondents. The main barrier reported was lack of training. CONCLUSION: The community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, are engaged in health promotion activities. However lack of training has limited their level of involvement and practice differences were noted based on sex, educational level, and pharmacy ownership status of the respondents.

Perception of Community Pharmacists towards Dispensing Errors in Community Pharmacy Setting in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Dispensing errors are inevitable occurrences in community pharmacies across the world. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the community pharmacists' perception towards dispensing errors in the community pharmacies in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 47 community pharmacists selected through convenience sampling. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and Pearson's Chi-square test of independence were conducted with P ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. RESULT: The majority of respondents were in the 23-28-year age group (N = 26, 55.3%) and with at least B.Pharm degree (N = 25, 53.2%). Poor prescription handwriting and similar/confusing names were perceived to be the main contributing factors while all the strategies and types of dispensing errors were highly acknowledged by the respondents. Group differences (P < 0.05) in opinions were largely due to educational level and age. CONCLUSION: Dispensing errors were associated with prescribing quality and design of dispensary as well as dispensing procedures. Opinion differences relate to age and educational status of the respondents.

Assessment of Medication Use among University Students in Ethiopia.

Background. The extent, nature, and determinants of medication use of individuals can be known from drug utilization studies. Objectives. This study intended to determine medication consumption, sharing, storage, and disposal practices of university students in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 404 university students selected through stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS version 20 statistical software. Pearson's Chi-square test of independence was conducted with P < 0.05 taken as statistically significant. Results. At 95.3% response rate, the prevalences of medication consumption and sharing were 35.3% (N = 136) and 38.2% (N = 147), respectively. One hundred (26%) respondents admitted that they often keep leftover medications for future use while the rest (N = 285, 74%) discard them primarily into toilets (N = 126, 44.2%). Evidence of association existed between medication taking and year of study (P = 0.048), medication sharing and sex (P = 0.003), and medication sharing and year of study (P = 0.015). Conclusion. There is a high prevalence of medication consumption, medication sharing, and inappropriate disposal practices which are influenced by sex and educational status of the university students. Thus medication use related educational interventions need to be given to students in general.