Pharmacies
are managed by a variety of dispensers in terms of qualification,
knowledge and experience in Pakistan.
Objective: The study aimed to document the state
of knowledge, experience and qualification of dispensers working
at community pharmacies in Pakistan.
Methods: A comparative cross sectional study
was conducted at a randomly selected sample of 371 pharmacies
in the three cities of Pakistan. A structured questionnaire for
data collection was developed and finalized by focused group discussions
and pilot testing. The data was coded, entered and analyzed by
using SPSS Version 16. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests (p=0.05)
were performed to find out differences.
Results: Out of total sample of 371 pharmacies,
31.8 % (118) were in Islamabad, 32.4 % (120) in Peshawar and 35.8
% (133) were in Lahore. Fifty percent of the respondents had correct
knowledge of range of room temperature at which medicines should
be stored. Only 11.1% (41) of the respondents knew about OTC (over
the counter drugs) which can be sold without prescription while
5.9 % (22) of the respondents were aware of POM (prescription
only medicines) which can be only sold on a valid prescription.
While 87.6% (325), 88.1% (327), 58.7% (318) and 95.7 % (355) of
the respondents did not know the meaning of the dispensing abbreviations
such as ‘h.s’, ‘q.d’, ‘sos’ and ‘p.r.n’. The respondents did not
know correctly the status of Deltacortil® (Prednisolone),
Septran® (Sulfamethoxazole) and Fansidar® (Pyrimethamine
and Sulfadoxine) either as OTC or POM in 26.7% (99), 64.2% (238),
and 44.5 % (165) of the cases, respectively. There was a significant
difference (p=0.05) in knowledge of dispensers regarding storage
temperature, prescription terminologies and status of medicines
having different level of qualification and experience.
Conclusions: The overall knowledge and training
of dispensers working at community pharmacies is inadequate in
Pakistan. However, pharmacists had relatively better knowledge
regarding storage temperature, prescription terminologies and
status of medicines as compared to pharmacy assistants, diploma
holders and salesperson.
|
Table
of contents
|
