Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33691698›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2021

The role of pharmacists in complementary and alternative medicine in Lebanon: users' perspectives.

Mohamad Ali Hijazi, Hibeh Shatila, Zeina Omeich, Abdalla El-Lakany, Maha Aboul Ela, Farah Naja

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Mohamad Ali HijaziFaculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beirut Arab University, P.O. Box: 11 5020, Beirut, Lebanon.
Hibeh ShatilaNutrition and Food Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Zeina OmeichFaculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beirut Arab University, P.O. Box: 11 5020, Beirut, Lebanon.
Abdalla El-LakanyFaculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beirut Arab University, P.O. Box: 11 5020, Beirut, Lebanon.
Maha Aboul ElaFaculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beirut Arab University, P.O. Box: 11 5020, Beirut, Lebanon.
Farah NajaDepartment of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS), University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. fnaja@sharjah.ac.ae.
Beirut Arab University · LBAmerican University of Beirut · LBUniversity of Sharjah · AE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCustomers' expectations and satisfaction are critical to ensure a more effective role of the community pharmacists in promoting the safe use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The aim of this study is to examine the perceptions and practices of customers buying their CAM products from pharmacies and explore their satisfaction with CAM-related services offered by the community pharmacists in Lebanon.

methodsA national cross-sectional study was conducted among users of CAM (age > =18 years) who obtained their CAM from community pharmacies in Lebanon (n = 832). Within the proximity of the pharmacy, subjects were invited to complete a multi-component questionnaire. The latter consisted of four sections related to CAM: general beliefs, perception of pharmacists' role, practices, satisfaction with services offered by the pharmacists. In addition, the questionnaire included questions about sociodemographic characteristics of participants.

resultsThe majority of participants agreed to an active role of the pharmacists' in guiding CAM use, however over half of the participants (61.3%) did not agree that the pharmacist is more knowledgeable in this field than other healthcare providers. As for practices, one in two surveyed customers (47%) did not always give feedback to their pharmacists about the outcomes after using CAM, 20% did not often ask the pharmacists about the safe and effective mode of use of the products and 28.1% did not discuss their medical history. For services offered by the pharmacist, the majority of participants reported receiving good education about the CAM product (87.1%), its side effects (87.1%) and mode of use (93.4%), while significant proportions of participants reported that pharmacists were not asking questions about their medical history before dispensing CAM products (22%) nor were they providing information on CAM-drug interactions (30%).

conclusionsThe results of this study highlighted important gaps between the perceptions of customers and the services they received from the pharmacists about CAM use. These findings could be used by concerned stakeholders, including public health authorities and educational bodies, to develop evidence-based interventions aimed at promoting the role of pharmacists in ensuring a safe and effective CAM use Lebanon.

Indexed as

Health Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticePatient SatisfactionPharmaciesPharmacistsProfessional RoleAdolescentAdultComplementary TherapiesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLebanonMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultComplementary alternative medicineCustomersExpectationLebanonPharmacistSatisfaction

Identifiers

PMID33691698
PMCPMC7944898
OpenAlexW3134715335

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.