Burnout among pharmacists in Tunisia during COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Both public and private sector pharmacists were instrumental in containing this health crisis in Tunisia. The high workload had a considerable impact on their mental health during the outbreak of the Corona Virus. Objective(s): This study aims to assess burnout and the psychological toll of the pandemic among pharmacists in Tunisia during covid-19. Method(s): 258 Tunisian pharmacists working in the public and private sector participated in a questionnaire. Burnout was assessed by the Maslach burnout scale. Regression analysis was used to assess the impact of the pandemic on Tunisian pharmacists. Result(s): 80% of the respondents were women. Participants ranged in age from 22 to 62, 60% were married, 57% had at least one child, and 42% had been working for less than five years. The burnout scale revealed 76% burnout among them. Univariate linear regression showed that female gender (p = 0.014 <0.05) was associated with the development of burnout. Conclusion(s): The considerable prevalence of burnout among pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia can be attributed to the enormous and overwhelming responsibilities that any health care worker endured.

Covid-19 treatment: A follow-up of inpatients during the second wave of the pandemic

Background and importance The COVID-19 pandemic is a current international public health issue. Multiple cases have been resurging in our country after flattering of the curve, indicating a second wave. Up to 13 October, our country recorded 34 790 cases and 512 deaths. Our hospital has been admitting COVID-19 patients. Thus the follow-up of their treatment was implemented in our pharmacy. Aim and objectives Our aim was to evaluate the treatment of COVID-19 inpatients during the second wave. Material and methods This was a prospective study carried out at our hospital over a 3 week period from 23 September to 14 October. Only patients with a positive RT-PCR were included. A follow-up document was established according to the latest guidelines of the National Agency for Health Assessment and Accreditation. The electronic prescription and biological reports were used as a database. Data were processed with SPSS. Results 78 patients were included with a sex ratio of 0.7 and a median age of 62 years (25;91). Patients were mainly hospitalised in the emergency department (24.4%), internal medicine department (24.4%) and intensive care unit (20.5%). 25% of patients had a severe form. We noted 22 deaths and 25 patients were discharged with a mean of 6 days of hospitalisation. The pharmacological treatment included anticoagulants (85.9%), mainly enoxaparin, antibiotics other than azithromycin (80.8%), mainly amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and cefotaxime, azithromycin (82.1%), corticosteroids (53.8%) and symptomatic treatment (82.1%), mainly paracetamol. None of the patients took vitamins or zinc supplements and only 23.1% received their comorbidity treatment from our pharmacy. Intake of antibiotics, anticoagulants, azithromycin and corticosteroids, separately and in association, had no statistically significant effect on the mortality rate (p>0.05). However, antibiotic and azithromycin intake had a significant effect on the length of hospitalisation for discharged patients (p<0.05). Conclusion and relevance Hospital pharmacists are on the frontline of all the medical staff facing the pandemic. Our study aimed to improve the pharmaceutical care of inpatients during the second wave. Our main results indicated that antibiotic and azithromycin intake can be a factor to minimise the duration of hospitalisation which has a pharmacoeconomic benefit and assures optimal hospital bed occupancy needed for the management of the outbreak. However, extended studies should be conducted.