The effectiveness of pharmacist-based coaching inimproving breast cancer-related health behaviors: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Although pharmacists are trusted and easily accessible by the public, their role in changing health behaviours related to breast cancer has been rarely investigated. Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of pharmacist-based coaching in improving BC-related health behaviors and knowledge in females, and to measure the comfort level toward this program. Methods: This was a randomized controlled study carried out in community pharmacies in Egypt. Pharmacies included were asked to enroll 240 females into a trial, then equally allocate them into either active or control arms, and provide 12 weekly face-to-face coaching sessions to those assigned to the active arm. Pharmacists were also asked to survey females and fill a standardized data collection form at baseline, in the middle of coaching, at the end of coaching, and three months after coaching. Results: The proportions of doing high physical activity, practicing healthy diet, and practicing breast self-exam three months after the end of coaching programme across the active and control arms were 52.17% versus 17.09% (p=0.002), 62.60% versus 28.20% (p=0.003), and 81.73% versus 23.07% (p=0.005), respectively. The mean scores of knowledge on BC symptoms, risk factors, and detection methods three months after coaching across the active and control arms were 4.10±2.47 versus 2.72±1.19 (p=0.038), 4.25±2.20 versus 3.28±1.48 (p=0.020), and .34±1.80 versus 1.72±0.68 (p=0.001) respectively. While most of the females participated in the active arm were comfortable toward the financial 94.78% and social 88.69% sides of the program, more than one-third (34.78%) of the participants were uncomfortable toward the competency of coaches. Conclusion: Despite the need for some modifications, BC-related health behaviors and knowledge can be improved through pharmacist-based health coaching (AU)

Evaluation of the use and attitudes of pregnant and postpartum women towards medicine utilisation during pregnancy in the United Arab Emirates: A national cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Pregnancy period is of high concern to every woman. Knowledge about medication use needs to be highlighted at such a critical stage. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess pregnant and postpartum women's use and attitude regarding the utilisation of medications during pregnancy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). METHODS: A self-administrated survey was distributed among 500 pregnant and postpartum women randomly selected from the general population of five different cities within the UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, AL Fujairah and Ajman over a period of 3 months. All analyses were two-sided, and a P-value of ≤.05 was taken as the cut-off for statistical significance. RESULTS: Overall, 434 participants took part in the survey. Forty-one percent of respondents reported that they use drugs during pregnancy, and the most frequently used medications during pregnancy were multivitamins, analgesics and folic acid. Moreover, 77.9% of female participants acquired their knowledge from their gynaecologists. Only 21.7% of respondents reported that the pharmacist provided enough information during dispensing. Most ladies had an uplifting mentality towards medicines, but they believed pregnant ladies should be more wary with respect to medication use during pregnancy. A significant association was found between participants' nationality and occupation, and attitudes about medications (P < .001), where women with Arab nationality and those with health-related careers agreed that they have a higher threshold for using medicines during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: During pregnancy, ladies were more moderate and doubter towards the drug, healthcare providers should know about such mentalities while encouraging pregnant ladies to take prescription.