Evaluation of knowledge and attitude towards asthma care in hospital and community pharmacy settings at central Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and attitude towards asthma care in hospital and community pharmacy settings at central Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of 2-month from July 2015 to August 2015. The study population involves pharmacists registered with the Health Affairs Directorate and was practicing in community pharmacy and hospital pharmacies. Results: More than two-third of participants (62.6%) claimed that they know the short-acting beta 2-agonist is the most efficient drug to relieve bronchial smooth muscle in acute attacks, about (34.2%) of them knew that the side effects of inhaled steroids and sympathomimetic drug. A very low percentage of participants know (16.2%) the knowledge of asthma pathophysiology. About 86.2% reported that poor asthma control is due to poor inhaler technique and 83.2%, did not know the appropriate time to use the peak flow meter. However, regarding attitudes, more than 97% of the pharmacists agreed to the need for special training and 99.4% reported that the person should learn education skills to become an asthma educator. Analysis based on pharmacist groups found hospital pharmacists had knowledge and attitude scores higher than community pharmacists, and the difference was significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The study results revealed that the pharmacist is having low knowledge about pharmacotherapy of asthma and suggested for continuing education programs of pharmacy practitioners, can provide a more effective patient education, improve patient knowledge, and use inhaled medications properly.