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Development and Validation of a Tool to Improve Community Pharmacists' Surveillance Role in the Safe Dispensing of Herbal Supplements.
Jairoun, Ammar Abdulrahman; Al Hemyari, Sabaa Saleh; Abdulla, Naseem Mohammed; Shahwan, Moyad; Jairoun, Maimona; Godman, Brian; El-Dahiyat, Faris; Kurdi, Amanj.
  • Jairoun AA; Health and Safety Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  • Al Hemyari SS; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
  • Abdulla NM; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
  • Shahwan M; Pharmacy Department, Emirates Health Services, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  • Jairoun M; Health and Safety Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  • Godman B; School of Health and Environmental Studies, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  • El-Dahiyat F; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
  • Kurdi A; Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
Front Pharmacol ; 13: 916223, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2142193
ABSTRACT

Background:

There has been an appreciable increase in the use of herbal supplements, including immune boosters, during the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are concerns with falsified herbal supplements.

Objectives:

Developed a new questionnaire that can potentially help community pharmacists identify the extent of falsified herbal supplements.

Methods:

A 9-month cross sectional study was conducted among 500 community pharmacies across United Arab Emirates. A new 5-factor, 24-itmes scale was developed based on current labelling requirements across countries and piloted. This included seven items on identified uses and contraindication, seven items on hazard identification, four items on product identity, three items on packaging and product insert and three items on product handling and storage. The face and content validity of the scale was assessed via the content validity index (CVI). Its construct validity was tested using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) via principally component analysis (PCA). The model was subsequently confirmed through partial confirmatory factor analysis (PCFA). Its reliability was assessed via test-retest reliability, internal consistency, item internal consistency (IIC), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

Results:

The CVI of the finalized questionnaire was 0.843. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.891, and Bartlett's test of sphericity indicated significance (p-value < 0.001). Confirmation of the subsequent 5-domains was achieved through PCFA using maximum likelihood analysis with oblimin rotation. The PCFA obtained values was 0.962 for NFI, 0.977 for CFI, and 0.987 for the Tucker Lewis Index. All values were greater than 0.95, and the RMSEA value was 0.03 (i.e., less than 0.06). Consequently, the model had a good fit. All domains demonstrated Cronbach's alpha coefficients above 0.70, with 0.940 for the full instrument. Meanwhile, all items met the IIC correlation standard of ≥0.40. The instrument presented good ICC statistics of 0.940 (0.928-0.950) as well as statistical significance (p < 0.001). Community pharmacists with more than 10 experience years were more likely to identify falsified herbal supplements compared to those with 1-10 years experience (p < 0.001).

Conclusion:

This study developed and validated a new instrument to identify safe herbal supplements, which should enhance the role of the community pharmacists in the safe and effective treatment of suitable patients with herbal supplements.
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study / Randomized controlled trials Topics: Traditional medicine / Vaccines Language: English Journal: Front Pharmacol Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Fphar.2022.916223

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study / Randomized controlled trials Topics: Traditional medicine / Vaccines Language: English Journal: Front Pharmacol Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Fphar.2022.916223