Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36733512›Full record

ArticlePharmacy practice

Practices, knowledge, and attitudes of community pharmacists towards dispensing drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study from Jordan.

Lobna Gharaibeh, Mariam Ahmad Alameri, Obada A Sibai, Shirin Alfreahat, Fadi Saeed, Murtadha Al Badran, Ahmed Al-Qaisi

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacy practice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 52% 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

0 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Lobna GharaibehPhD. Pharmacological and Diagnostic Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. l.gharaibeh@ammanu.edu.jo.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7490-5465
Mariam Ahmad AlameriPhD. Pharmacological and Diagnostic Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. m.alameri@ammanu.edu.jo.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1369-6620
Obada A SibaiFaculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. obada.alsaba25@gmail.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8787-3554
Shirin AlfreahatFaculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. Shirin.dergham.cd@icloud.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9389-9507
Fadi SaeedFaculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. fadisami791@gmail.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2616-6485
Murtadha Al BadranFaculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. murtadhairaq@gmail.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7375-256X
Ahmed Al-QaisiFaculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. a99hameed1999@gmail.com.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2366-1712
Al-Ahliyya Amman University · JO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pharmacists have an important role in providing correct information, education, and counseling to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health crisis. In order to perform their duties in a correct manner, they must receive adequate and evidence-based information from official resources. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to examine the practices of community pharmacists towards dispensing drugs during the COVI-19 pandemic and assess their knowledge concerning the safety and efficacy of these drugs in managing the COVID-19 infection. Methods: This was a web-based cross-sectional study conducted through the distribution of the questionnaire via the social media through a google form. The drugs examined were azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, dexamethasone, and certain antiviral drugs. Results: A total of 485 community pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Pharmacists dispensed these medications based on the physician's orders, 420 (86.6%), according to the pharmacist´s recommendations 327 (67.4%), or upon patient´s request 278 (57.3%). Azithromycin was the most dispensed drug and two thirds of the pharmacists dispensed drugs more than 10 times. Community pharmacists did not possess adequate knowledge concerning the effectiveness and safety of the drugs in the management of COVID-19 infection. In the multivariate linear regression analysis; education, type of university, and the average number of daily customers were statistically significant, p values: 0.004, 0.002, and 0.016, respectively. Pharmacists did not have a positive attitude towards dispensing drugs based on their own recommendations. More than half of the pharmacists agreed that they thought it was a correct decision to give these drugs based on their own judgment. Conclusion: Community pharmacists should not receive information from non-official sources. Strict regulations and implementation of disciplinary actions against pharmacists that dispense prescription only drugs based on their medical judgment are necessary to stop this illegal behavior. A proactive role demonstrated by the pharmacists and based on scientific facts will reduce misconceptions and hazardous behavior of self-medication using prescription only drugs based on rumors and fictitious news.

Indexed as

antibioticattitudeazithromycincommunity pharmacistCOVID-19hydroxychloroquineknowledgepandemicpractice

Identifiers

PMID36733512
PMCPMC9851824
OpenAlexW4297184639

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.