Community Pharmacists' Medication Knowledge: A Nation-wide Study in Palestine

Background: Community Pharmacists are easily accessible to the public. They have an important role and responsibility in monitoring the safety of medicines dispensed with or without a prescription. Objective: This study aims to assess medication knowledge of Palestinian community pharmacists. In specific, knowledge of community pharmacists about safety of medicines during pregnancy and evidence based therapy of herbal products will be assessed. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional survey study on community pharmacists. The medication knowledge was assessed by a set of questions specifically designed for this purpose. Scores of the test were presented as percentage from a total of 100. The internal consistency of each test was acceptable with a Cronbach alpha ≥ 0.6. Results: Approximately one third of chief community pharmacist in West-Bank, Palestine took part in the study. The sample consisted of 173 (50.6%) females and 169 (49.6%) males. The majority of the participants (303; 89.2%) had a B.Sc. degree in pharmacy while 37 (10.8%) had an M.S degree. Community pharmacists have the following median (Q1-Q3) scores: [70% (60-80)]; [40% (30-50)]; and [50% (40-70)] for the general knowledge, safety of medicines during pregnancy and in evidence based herbal therapy tests respectively. The total score was significantly and negatively correlated with the number of years since graduation (r= - 0.2; P<0.01). Female pharmacists had significantly better score than male pharmacists in all tests (general pharmacy, herbal pharmacotherapy, total parts) but not for drug safety during pregnancy (P values = 0.16, 0.008, 0.046) respectively.. Conclusion: Good proportion of the study sample lack adequate knowledge in certain important aspects of pharmacy practice such as medication safety during pregnancy, evidence based indication of herbal products, and herbal-drug interactions. This might negatively affect the role of Community pharmacists in patient counseling and education. Authorities need to improve the community pharmacists' role in healthcare system by providing continuous and up-to-date education for community pharmacists. Practice Implications: Professional development should be mandatory in Palestine. Inclusion of a course about drugs during pregnancy into pharmacy curriculum is recommended. Key Words: Community Pharmacist, Medication Knowledge, Pregnancy, Herbal Product, Palestine.