Self-monitoring of blood pressure and the role of community pharmacists in Kuwait

To determine the types of devices for self-monitoring of blood pressure available to consumers in Kuwait and the pharmacists' knowledge and level of information provided to consumers when purchasing such devices. It was possible to contact 196 of the 230 eligible pharmacies from five governorates in Kuwait. Ten of these were used to pretest the questionnaire and six declined to participate. Another six did not carry any blood pressure monitoring devices and hence were excluded. Data was then collected from pharmacists at the 174 remaining community pharmacies via face-to-face structured interview of the respondents at their work sites. Of the 174 pharmacists, 173 [99.4%] claimed to offer or provide advice to clients at the time of purchasing devices, 117 [67.1%] of them stating that they did so even if the patients did not ask. Although 147 [84.5%] respondents correctly identified the mercury sphygmomanometer as the most reliable device for measuring blood pressure, less than half [86,49.4%] claimed to know how to check the accuracy of the devices they sold. Only 25 [14.4%] pharmacists could actually identify the correct procedure for checking the accuracy of the devices and only 25 [14.4%] pharmacists could correctly identify cutoff points for systolic and diastolic blood pressure delineating clinical hypertension. Only 1 pharmacist could correctly name a reference source for blood pressure measurement. There is a need for improvement of community pharmacists' competence in supporting patients and in providing them with information regarding devices for measuring blood pressure in Kuwait

Practice and opinion towards disposal of unused medication in Kuwait

The aim of this study was to measure the attitude and practice of Kuwaiti patients in Kuwait with regard to safe disposal of unwanted medicines. Three-hundred patients or their family members waiting for prescriptions at public general hospitals in Kuwait completed a questionnaire soliciting their practice with regard to medication use and disposal, and their opinion of the best way to dispose of unwanted medicines. Almost half of the respondents [45.4%] obtained medicines on prescription more than 3 times a year and almost all had unwanted medicines in the home. Reasons for possessing unused medication were mostly due to a change of medication by the doctor [48.9%], or self-discontinuation [25.8%]. Their most common method of disposal was to throw unwanted medicines in the trash [76.5%] or flush them down the drain [11.2%]. Half [54.0%] thought that a system of taking medicines to pharmacies for safe disposal would be favorable. The study indicates that the need for an appropriate method for disposal of unwanted medication exists in Kuwait. Hence, guidelines on safe disposal of unwanted medicines are required and an organized method of collecting unused medication needs to be introduced