Nature and extent of counseling practice in community pharmacies in Sulaimani city, Iraq: A cross-sectional study

Authors

  • Khanda Taifwr Hamasalih Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani, Iraq.
  • Walid Hassan Nitham Shar Hospital, Sulaimani Directorate of Health, Sulaimani, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15218/zjms.2021.035

Keywords:

Counselling, Community pharmacist, Community pharmacy, Counselling barriers

Abstract

Background and objective: Community pharmacists play an important role in the best use of drugs and in improving patient outcomes. Evidence demonstrates that pharmacists' counseling improves the quality of life, clinical outcomes, and drug and disease knowledge and reduces the utilization of health services. This study aimed to investigate the nature and extent of counseling practices of community pharmacists in community pharmacies in Sulaimani region of Kurdistan, Iraq.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in community pharmacies in Sulaimani city, in a one-month duration from November to December 2020. The sample size was 100 community pharmacies, which were selected randomly. The data were stored and analyzed using Excel 2016 and expressed as frequencies and percentages.

Results: According to the completed questionnaires, about 78.8% of pharmacists would do counseling spontaneously each time they dispense any drug. Only 61% of the pharmacists would ask the patients if they understood what was said during their communication to assess the understanding of advice given to their patients. The most common barrier observed during patient counseling was the patient's lack of time.

Conclusion: This study indicates that community pharmacists counsel the patients in an appropriate way. They provide information orally and in written form. However, further research is needed to evaluate the quality of patient counseling by using different methods like pseudo-patient methodology to gain real counseling data.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Grace S, Adji P, Yosi I, Eko S, Bruce S. Counselling practices in an East Javan district, Indonesia: what information is commonly gathered by pharmacy staff? J Pharm Health Serv Res. 2021; 12(2):254–61. https://doi.org/10.1093/jphsr/rmab001.

Nkansah N, Mostovetsky O, Yu C, Chheng T, Beney J, Bond CM, et al. Effect of outpatient pharmacists’ non-dispensing roles on patient outcomes and prescribing patterns. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010; 7:CD000336. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000336.pub2.

Hassan Q, Tahani A, Ayidh M, Abdullah A. Community pharmacist counselling practices in the Bisha health directorate, Saudi Arabia –simulated patient visits. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020; 20:745. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05554-2.

Sinaa A, Norah O. Counselling practices in community pharmacies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015; 15:557. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-1220-6.

Maes KA, Ruppanner JA, Imfeld-Isenegger TL, Hersberger KE, Lampert ML, Boeni F. Dispensing of prescribed medicines in Swiss counseling activities. Pharmacy (Basel). 2019; 7:1. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7010001.

Okumura LM, Rotta I, Correr CJ. Assessment of pharmacist-led patient counseling in randomized controlled trials: a systematic review. Int J Clin Pharm. 2014; 36:882–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-014-9982-1.

Eickhoff C, Hämmerlein A, Griese N, Schulz M. Nature and frequency of drug-related problems in self-medication (over-the-counter drugs) in daily community pharmacy practice in Germany. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2012; 21(3):254–60. https://doi.org/10.1002/pds.2241.

Nicolas A, Eickhoff C, Griese N, Schulz M. Drug-related problems in prescribed medicines in Germany at the time of dispensing. Int J Clin Pharm. 2013; 35(3):476–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-013-9769-9.

Nasir T, Raju NJ, Mulugeta T. Knowledge, attitude and practice of patient medication counseling among drug dispensers in North West Ethiopia. J Appl Pharm Sci. 2011; 01(07):85–90.

Ayalew M. Medication counseling practice in Ethiopia: A systematic review. J Basic Clin Pharm. 2017; 8:S001–5.

FMHACA US. Manual for Medicines Good Dispensing Practice. 2nd ed. Ethiopia: FMHACA; 2012. P.15

Alfadl AA, Alrasheedy AA, Alhassun MS. Evaluation of medication counseling practice at community pharmacies in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Pharm J. 2018; 26:258–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2017.12.002.

Muaed A. community pharmacy prescription screening in the UAE. Pharmacol Pharm. 2014;(5):83–91. https://doi.org/10.4236/pp.2014.51013.

Tucker R. Community pharmacists' perceptions of the skin conditions they encounter and how they view their role in dermatological care. Int J Pharm Pract. 2012; 20(5):344–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-7174.2012.00212.x.

Latif, F, Ahmad R, Naqvi A, Ahmad N. Pharmacist perceived barriers to patient counseling: A study in Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. J Pharm Res Int. 2017; 19(6):1–12. https://doi.org/10.9734/JPRI/2017/37705.

Rajiah K, Kaur K, Sivarasa S, Yeow M. Perception of community pharmacists towards patient counseling and continuing pharmacy education program in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor states of Malaysia. Am J Pharm Health Res. 2014; 2(1).48–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phclin.2015.08.005.

Hager DR, Hartkopf K, Margolis A, Martin BA. Pharmacist behavior changes following a medication counseling training program targeting teach-back and plain language. Innov Pharm. 2016; 7(1):8. https://doi.org/10.24926/iip.v7i1.418.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-23

How to Cite

Hamasalih, K. T., & Nitham, W. H. (2021). Nature and extent of counseling practice in community pharmacies in Sulaimani city, Iraq: A cross-sectional study. Zanco Journal of Medical Sciences (Zanco J Med Sci), 25(3), 686–691. https://doi.org/10.15218/zjms.2021.035

Issue

Section

Original Articles