RESUMO
Background: Corticosteroids (CS) are essential drugs in the treatment of several medical conditions. Assuming different roles, physicians and pharmacists play a primary role in prescribing and dispensing these medications to optimize patients' clinical management. The data on assessing knowledge and experience of healthcare professionals toward CS is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess and compare knowledge, experience, and fears towards CS among Egyptian physicians and pharmacists. Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administrated, validated online questionnaire was used to collect the data from Egyptian healthcare professionals. The questionnaire consisted of four sections with multiple choice questions: sociodemographic (7 questions), knowledge about CS (13 questions), experience with CS prescription/dispensing (5 questions), and fears and preferences toward CS prescription/dispensing (13 questions). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 600 responses were analyzed in this study. The study sample was almost two-half of healthcare providers: 303 (50.5%) pharmacists and 297 (49.5%) physicians. Pharmacists had marginally higher knowledge scores as compared to those recorded for physicians (11.29 versus 10.16, respectively; P = 0.047). Physicians had more experience choosing corticosteroids in treatment plans based on their experience (51.8% vs 38.5%) and guideline recommendations (72.8% vs 50.9%) than pharmacists. However, pharmacists had more experience dealing with corticosteroid use based on patients' preferences (19.5% vs 4.9%) and showed a broader scope of experiencing side effects of corticosteroids with their patients. The two professions demonstrated high levels of fear, with pharmacists acknowledging significantly lower concerns about CS than physicians (3.72 versus 4.0, respectively; P = 0.003). Conclusion: Discrepancies exist among healthcare professionals in knowledge and experience, favoring better scientific knowledge of pharmacists related to corticosteroids. Based on these findings, the interprofessional collaborative efforts would provide comprehensive, patient-centered care that maximizes the benefits of CS while minimizing their risks.
RESUMO
Background: Globally, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the foremost cause of morbidity as well as mortality. This necessitates a system of surveillance that can effectively and efficiently monitor the effect of drugs on the general population. The role of pharmacovigilance (PV) is paramount in ensuring drug safety through spontaneous ADR reporting. Methods: Data collection in the current research was carried out by an anonymous, online 36-item self-report questionnaire amongst a sample of 351 working healthcare professionals (HCPs) across different regions of Jazan Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The current sample comprised 54.4% males and 45.6% females, having an age range of 26-57 years, and was conducted between August 21 and October 21, 2022. Participants were recruited using the convenience snowball sampling technique. Results: The participants' awareness of PV as well as spontaneous ADR reporting, had a significant association with having <40 years of age (χ2 = 27.40; p < 0.001), being pharmacists (χ2 = 212.20; p < 0.001), with more than five years of experience (χ2 = 40.80; p < 0.001), having Masters (or) Doctorate/Fellowship (χ2 = 171.94; p < 0.001), and having their practice located in an urban area (χ2 = 50.30; p < 0.001). It was also observed that most participants with excellent awareness of PV and spontaneous ADR reporting also demonstrated excellent attitudes (χ2 = 147.70; p < 0.001). Similarly, it was also seen that almost all (97%) of the study sample with excellent attitudes towards PV and spontaneous ADR reporting also demonstrated excellent practices (χ2 = 250.73; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a need for designing and conducting educational programs, providing training and conducting workshops for all the HCPs to improve their awareness towards PV and spontaneous ADR reporting while also highlighting the need and importance of having positive attitudes towards spontaneous ADR reporting. Cooperation between different HCPs should be encouraged to improve their practices towards spontaneous ADR reporting.