Knowledge, perception, and willingness to provide telepharmacy services among pharmacy students: a multicenter cross-sectional study in Indonesia.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic accelerated the provision of telepharmacy services. However, little is known about the knowledge, perception, and willingness of pharmacy students as future key players in telepharmacy adoption to provide such a service, particularly in a setting without well-established telepharmacy services before the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: With this survey we aimed to assess the level of knowledge, perception, and willingness to provide telepharmacy services and to identify associated factors among pharmacy students in Indonesia. METHODS: We applied a multicenter cross-sectional study design with convenience sampling technique among pharmacy students in three public universities in Bandung City, Surabaya City, and Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The knowledge, perception, and willingness to provide telepharmacy services were assessed using an online questionnaire. Ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with a high knowledge level, whereas binary logistic regression analyses were performed to determine factors associated with a positive perception of telepharmacy services. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. RESULTS: Among 313 respondents, 83.4% were female, and the mean age was 20 years. Although only 13.2% showed a high knowledge level, 66.5% showed a positive perception of telepharmacy services and 97.4% were willing to provide telepharmacy services in the future. An increase in age (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.14-1.54) and being advance in smartphone usage (OR 5.21; 95% CI 2.03-13.42) are associated with an increased likelihood of having a high knowledge level about telepharmacy services. Male students had a lower likelihood of having a positive perception of telepharmacy services than females (OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.24-0.85). CONCLUSION: Despite limited knowledge of telepharmacy, the majority of pharmacy students reported a positive perception and willingness to provide telepharmacy services in their future careers. Therefore, telepharmacy practice models must be included as a subject course in the curriculum, better preparing future pharmacists to perform their roles effectively. Furthermore, student-specific factors such as age and expertise in smartphone usage that associated with knowledge and gender that associated with perception should be considered to facilitate telepharmacy adoption in Indonesia.

Primary health care policy and vision for community pharmacy and pharmacists in Indonesia.

The practice of community pharmacy in low and middle-income countries, including in Indonesia, is often described as in the state of infancy with several intractable barriers that have been substantially and continuously hampering the practice. Such description might be valid in highlighting how pharmacy is practiced and the conditions within and beyond community pharmacy organizations. Therefore, it is not surprising that the concept of integrating community pharmacy into the primary care system may not be considered in the contemporary discourse despite the fact that community pharmacy has been operating within communities for years. However, in the case of Indonesia, we argue that changes in the health care system within the past decade particularly with the introduction of the universal health coverage (UHC) in 2014, may have significantly amplified the role of pharmacists. There is good evidence which highlights the contribution of pharmacist as a substantial health care element in primary care practice. The initiative for employing pharmacist, identified in this article as primary care pharmacist, in the setting of community health center [puskesmas] and the introduction of affiliated or contracted community pharmacy under the UHC have enabled pharmacist to work together with other primary care providers. Moreover, government agenda under the "Smart Use of Medicines" program [Gema Cermat] recognizes pharmacists as the agent of change for improving the rational use of medicines in the community. Community pharmacy is developing, albeit slowly, and is able to grasp a novel position to deliver pharmacy-related primary care services to the general public through new services, for example drug monitoring and home care. Nevertheless, integrating community pharmacy into primary care is relatively a new notion in the Indonesian setting, and is a challenging process given the presence of barriers in the macro, meso- and micro-level of practice.

Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of Short-Form 6D on the General Population in Indonesia.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Short-Form 6D (SF-6D) instruments for measuring quality of life as outcome parameters in pharmacoeconomic studies. METHODS: The forward-backward methods were applied to translate the SF-6D questionnaire. A preliminary Indonesian version of SF-6D questionnaire was field tested in samples of 470 adult general population. Test-retest reliability was assessed by using Spearman rank correlation coefficient and internal consistency with Cronbach α. Face validity was assessed descriptively based on the response of the respondents to all items in SF-6D. The construct validity test included internal construct validity and convergent validity, which was assessed by examining the correlation between the questionnaire and Euro-Quality of life-5D based on the scale of each domain. The known group method was used to test discriminant validity. Mann-Whitney U test was employed for comparing the utility score on dichotomous variables and Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for polychromatic variables. RESULTS: The SF-6D was a valid and reliable questionnaire, indicated by the reliability coefficient of 0.725 and the value of each item ranging from 0.698 to 0.750. Construct validity indicated a strong correlation between physical functioning, role limitation, social functioning, pain, and mental health with the SF-6D utility score. Convergent validity showed a weak and moderate correlation between dimensions on SF-6D and Euro-Quality of life-5D. CONCLUSIONS: The SF-6D questionnaire has been translated into Indonesian version. The SF-6D questionnaire is valid and reliable. Known group validity shows that the SF-6D could differentiate utility scores by age group and history present illness.