Hospital pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes and practice of pharmaceutical care and the barriers for its implementation at the hospital setting.

Objective: To assess hospital pharmacists' understanding of pharmaceutical care and their attitudes regarding the adoption of the patient-centered model, as well as investigate Jordan's current state of pharmaceutical care implementation and the associated barriers. Methods: A validated survey was distributed to hospital pharmacists in different major tertiary hospitals in Jordan. The study questionnaire contained five sections to assess sociodemographic characteristics, pharmacists' understanding of pharmaceutical care, attitudes towards pharmaceutical care, potential barriers that may limit the delivery of pharmaceutical care, and the extent of pharmaceutical care implementation in the hospital setting. Results: The survey was completed by 152 hospital pharmacists. Participants in this study demonstrated adequate levels of knowledge about pharmaceutical care (Mean = 9.36 out of 11, SD = 1.23) and expressed favorable perceptions of pharmaceutical care (mean = 3.77 out of 5; SD = 0.7). Although more than one-third of the pharmacists practiced pharmaceutical care, the study revealed a number of impediments to the delivery of pharmacological care services. Regression analysis revealed that age (P < 0.05) and years of experience (P < 0.05) were significant predictors of knowledge, while age (P < 0.05), gender (P < 0.05), the graduation university (governmental vs. private) (P < 0.05), and years of experience (P < 0.05) were significant predictors of attitude. Furthermore, Doctor of Pharmacy degree holders had fewer barriers to pharmaceutical care implementation but were more actively involved in pharmaceutical care practice than those with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05 respectively). Pharmacists with a Master's degree or higher in pharmacy were more actively involved in pharmaceutical care practice than those with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree (P < 0.05). Pharmacists working in the Ministry of Health and the Royal Medical Services experienced more barriers than those working in teaching hospitals (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Although the current study indicated high knowledge and perceptions regarding pharmaceutical care among hospital pharmacists, the provision of pharmaceutical care is not widely practiced in Jordan. Moreover, several barriers to the practice of pharmaceutical care were identified, highlighting the need for effective strategies to be put in place to overcome these obstacles. These strategies should include increasing the number of pharmacy staff, resolving timing issues, providing adequate financial initiatives, improving communication skills, changing the layout of pharmacies to include a private counseling room, developing specific policies that support the role of the pharmacist in patient care, and providing effective training and continuing professional education programs.

Glycemic control and its associated factors among diabetic heart failure outpatients at two major hospitals in Jordan.

Patients with heart failure (HF) are generally at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and having uncontrolled blood glucose. Furthermore, the prevalence of uncontrolled blood glucose in patients with HF is largely unknown. Identifying the factors associated with poor blood glucose control is a preliminary step in the development of effective intervention programs. The current cross-sectional study was conducted at two major hospitals to explore the factors associated with blood glucose control among patients with heart failure and type 2 diabetes. In addition to sociodemographic, medical records were used to collect medical information and a validated questionnaire was used to evaluate medication adherence. Regression analysis showed that poor medication adherence (OR = 0.432; 95%CI 0.204-0.912; P<0.05) and increased white blood cells count (OR = 1.12; 95%CI 1.033-1.213; P<0.01) were associated with poor glycemic control. For enhancing blood glucose control among patients with HF and diabetes, future intervention programs should specifically target patients who have high WBC counts and poor medication.

Factors affecting health-related quality of life among hypertensive patients using the EQ-5D tool.

OBJECTIVES: Hypertension (HTN) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it is an epidemic health problem with 1 billion people affected worldwide. Limited studies have examined the impact of HTN on physical, psychological and social functioning of HTN patients. Furthermore, little is known about factors that impair these domains among these patients. Thus, the aim of the present study is to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to explore predictors of poor HRQoL in patients with HTN in Jordan. METHODS: Hypertensive patients visiting cardiology and internal medicine departments were recruited from three major hospitals in Jordan. Patients' Socio-demographics and medical data were collected via direct patient encounters and medical records. The validated Arabic version of EQ-5D tool was used to assess HRQoL. Simple linear regression was performed to explore the factors associated with poor HRQoL. RESULTS: The mean score of the EQ-5D index of the 300 participants was 0.732 (SD = 0.29, range from -0.594 to 1.0). While extreme problems were only reported by 10% of the participants, most of them reported "some problems" through the five dimensions with the highest percentage (43.3%) for mobility dimension. Gender, monthly income, number of medical conditions, number of medications, number of HTN medications, duration of HTN and the presence of any atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases were significantly associated with the EQ-5D index value (P-value <.05). CONCLUSIONS: The current study highlights factors that negatively impact HRQoL in patients with HTN. Such findings should provide useful information for future pharmaceutical care intervention programmes aimed at improving HRQoL and other health outcomes in patients with HTN.