Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30171617›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2018

Healthcare professionals' level of medication knowledge in Africa: a systematic review.

Derbew Fikadu Berhe, Katja Taxis, Flora M Haaijer-Ruskamp, Peter G M Mol

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Derbew Fikadu BerheDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-0669-9241
Katja TaxisDepartment of Pharmacy, Unit Pharmacotherapy, -epidemiology and -economics, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8539-2004
Flora M Haaijer-RuskampDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
Peter G M MolDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4262-3180
University Medical Center Groningen · NLUniversity of Groningen · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsUnderstanding how much healthcare professionals (HCPs) know about medication can help in devising strategies to improve rational medication use. This study aimed to synthesize information on the level of medication knowledge of HCPs in Africa.

methodWe performed a systematic literature study in Embase and PubMed. We included original studies quantifying HCPs' medication knowledge, published between 2012 and 2016. We extracted disease focus, country, number and type of HCPs included and all medication-related knowledge questions and scored the quality of papers. The outcome measure was the percentage of HCPs who correctly answered medication knowledge questions.

resultsWe identified 64 studies from 12 African countries, comprising 13 911 HCPs, mostly nurses/midwifes and physicians. We extracted 306 medication-related knowledge questions, and only 52% (SD 28) of HCPs correctly answered them. Knowledge questions were mainly about medication prescribed for communicable diseases (70%), followed by non-communicable diseases (11%), and family planning/gynaecology (10%). Most papers concluded that there was a considerable medication knowledge gap among HCPs.

conclusionWe found a low level of medication knowledge across different disease areas, countries and HCPs. This underlines the continuous need to strengthen the undergraduate and postgraduate education in (clinical) pharmacology and therapeutics in Africa.

Indexed as

Drug TherapyHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHealth PersonnelAfricaHumansOutcome Assessment, Health CarePharmacologyAfricahealthcare professionalsmedication knowledge

Identifiers

PMID30171617
PMCPMC6256006
OpenAlexW2889162975

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.