Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

An investigation of knowledge, attitude, and practice of community pharmacists toward pharmaceutical care in private community pharmacies in Jamaica

Rose M Victory Evans , Lisa E Bromfield, Peta-Gaye L Thomas Brown

School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Technology, Jamaica;

For correspondence:- Rose Evans Email: rvictoryevans@gmail.com Tel:+8763655316

Accepted: 20 November 2021 Published: 31 December 2021

Citation: Evans RM, Bromfield LE, Brown PL. An investigation of knowledge, attitude, and practice of community pharmacists toward pharmaceutical care in private community pharmacies in Jamaica. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(12):2587-2595 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i12.19

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards pharmaceutical care (PC) and identify significant barriers to its provision in Jamaica.

Methods: Two hundred participants were selected by stratified proportionate random sampling. A self-administered questionnaire collected data on demographic factors, knowledge and attitude towards PC, and current practices and barriers to PC. Data was quantified using descriptive statistics and analysed using SPSS, version 22. Chi-Squared followed by multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to ascertain significant associations, with significance set at p<0.05.

Results: Of the 200 questionnaires distributed, 193 were completed, obtaining a response rate of 96.5%. Most pharmacists demonstrated good knowledge (>90%), and a positive attitude (>80%) towards PC, but <50% of pharmacists provided PC. Lack of resources was identified as the most significant barrier to the practice of PC, ranging from 54-85%. Several demographic factors were significantly associated with the pharmacist’s KAP and perceived barriers to PC, and many remained significant in each regression model. Knowledge of PC was most positively associated with university education; attitude towards PC was >13 times predicted by PC utilisation and practice was positively associated with level of pharmacy education. Younger age of <50 years was the greatest contributor to the perceived barriers to PC practices.

Conclusion: Community pharmacists’ good knowledge and positive attitude do not translate into sufficient practice of all pharmaceutical care activities because of the lack of resources. Overcoming this barrier is necessary to improve the practice in Jamaica.

Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Community Pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Care