Public perceptions, expectations, and views of community pharmacy practice in Kuwait

Objectives: This study was designed to determine public patterns for use of community pharmacies, perceptions of pharmacists, confidence and trust in pharmacists, and expectations about the pharmacist's roles, and to explore the public views and satisfaction with the current pharmacy services

Subjects and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was performed using a pretested self-administered questionnaire on a sample of 481 individuals selected using a 2-stage stratified cluster sampling design. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used for data analysis. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant

Results: The most common reasons for visiting a pharmacy were to purchase medications [prescription: n = 338 [78.1%] and nonprescription: n = 296 [68.4%]]. Of the 433 respondents, 87 believed that pharmacists had a good balance between health and business matters; regarding any drug-related problem, 229 [52.9%] identified the physician as the first person to contact, followed by the pharmacist [n = 140; 32.3%]; 255 [58.9%] agreed that they trust pharmacists, while 237 [54.8%] agreed that pharmacists have the ability to answer drug- or disease-related questions. Of the 433 respondents, 236 [54.5%] did not expect the pharmacist's role to include monitoring health progress to ensure safe and effective use of medications, and 258 [59.6%] were satisfied with the current pharmacy services

Conclusion: The current study indicated that respondents had overall negative perceptions of community pharmacists, expressed moderate expectations of their role, and viewed the current pharmacy services as slightly positive. These findings highlight the need for designing multifaceted interventions targeting specific areas to advance the community pharmacy practice in Kuwait

Pharmacists' attitudes and role in diabetes management in kuwait

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to measure pharmacists' attitudes toward management of diabetes, identify current levels of pharmacy service provided to patients with diabetes, and identify barriers for further provision of diabetes-related services

Subjects and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 198 pharmacists working in primary and secondary health care settings in one health region of Kuwait using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and comparative analysis were performed

Results: The response rate was 84.4% [n = 168]. Respondents had overall positive attitudes toward management of diabetes. Pharmacists regularly provided their patients with counseling on the appropriate time to administer their medications; however, services related to hypo-glycemia and management of comorbid diseases were rarely provided. A negative correlation was found between the positive overall diabetes-related attitudes and pharmacists' involvement in providing the following diabetes-related services: glucose monitoring [r = -0.25,p = 0.001], comorbid disease management [r = -0.243, p = 0.001], and healthy living choices [r = -0.237, p = 0.002]

The perception that some physicians and patients have of pharmacists as dispensers only was identified as the most important barrier to providing diabetes-related services

Conclusion: Pharmacists have positive diabetes-related attitudes; however, they provide limited diabetes-related services to their patients. Barriers to provision of pharmacy services to patients with diabetes should be addressed to enable optimum patient care delivery

Diabetic patients knowledge of therapeutic goals in Kuwait

This study was conducted to analyze patients knowledge about therapeutic goals for diabetic patients and factors associated with good knowledge. A total of 266 diabetic patients were randomly selected from 6 diabetes clinics in Kuwait to be included in a cross-sectional patient survey. Data were collected via face-to-face structured interviews using a pretested questionnaire. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis was used in data analysis. The response rate was 93% [n = 247]. The percentages [95% confidence interval [Cl]] of patients who reported knowing their recent levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], blood pressure [BP], and glycosylated hemoglobin [HbAlc] were 5% [2-8], 54% [48-60], and 8% [5-11], respectively. The percentages [95% Cl] of patients who admitted knowing the target goals for LDL-C, BP, HbAlc, fasting, and postprandial blood glucose levels were 3% [1-6], 49% [43-55], 6% [3-9], 62% [56-68] and 55% [49-61], respectively. Correct target goals for LDL-C, BP, HbAlc, fasting, and postprandial blood glucose levels were reported by 2% [1-4], 43% [37-49], 5% [2-8], 60% [54-66], and 47% [1-53], respectively. Those with a high education [OR = 4.76; 95% Cl 2.34-9.68] and those with a family history of diabetes [OR = 3.05; 95% Cl 1.50-6.19] had good knowledge about correct targets. The current findings revealed that lack of knowledge about recent levels of BP, LDL-C and HbAlc and therapeutic goals was alarmingly high, which highlights the need for the implementation of an effective multidisci-plinary team approach to encourage patient education and Self-Care

Self-medication practices among diabetic patients in Kuwait

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of self-medication with proprietary medicines and/or herbs among diabetic patients and evaluate factors associated with self-medication among diabetic patients. A total of 104 diabetic patients were selected randomly from eight diabetic clinics from three governorates. Data were collected via face-to-face structured interview of the respondents in the clinics using a developed and piloted questionnaire. The response rate was 96.2%. Seventy-four percent of the study participants reported that they seek medical consultation when they get an illness, 92% indicated that they know that the use of medicines and/or herbs to treat an illness without a medical consultation can be harmful. Only 13% of the respondents reported that they had used medicine or herbs without medical consultation to treat an illness within the previous 2 months of the study period. Nine percent of the study population reported that they used herbs to treat diabetes, and 2% used them for other illness. Only two [2%] indicated that they used medicines, which were analgesics, diet pills and vitamins. There was no significant association between self-medication with medicines or herbs and the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents [p>0.05]. The prevalence of self-medication with medicines, including herbs, among diabetic patients in Kuwait is low. Enforcement of a strict prescription policy and coverage of medical consultation and treatment by health insurance may have contributed to low self-medication practices among diabetic patients

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