Knowledge and Practices of Community Pharmacists in Topical Dermatological Treatments

Ana Teixeira, Maribel Teixeira, Maria Teresa Herdeiro, Viviana Vasconcelos, Rita Correia, Maria Fernanda Bahia, Isabel F. Almeida, Diogo Guedes Vidal, Hélder Fernando Pedrosa e Sousa, Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis and Vera Almeida
Additional contact information
Ana Teixeira: CESPU, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
Maribel Teixeira: CESPU, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
Maria Teresa Herdeiro: Department of Medical Sciences—Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), University of Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, Agra do Crasto—Edificio 30, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Viviana Vasconcelos: CESPU, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
Rita Correia: CESPU, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal
Maria Fernanda Bahia: UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, MedTech-Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Drug Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Isabel F. Almeida: UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, MedTech-Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Drug Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Diogo Guedes Vidal: UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça 9 de Abril 349, 4249-004 Porto, Portugal
Hélder Fernando Pedrosa e Sousa: Department of Mathematics (DM. UTAD), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis: UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Praça 9 de Abril 349, 4249-004 Porto, Portugal
Vera Almeida: CESPU, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: The connection between pharmacists’ knowledge and practice on the provided information to patients about dermatoses and their treatment is insufficiently characterized. Furthermore, pharmacists’ contributions in counselling and in promoting adherence to topical treatment is not fully understood. This study has three main objectives. It aims to identify the knowledge and practices of pharmacists about dermatoses and their treatment, and to compare the perspective of pharmacists with that of patients regarding treatment information, with the future goal of establishing guidelines on the communication of dosage regimen instructions to dermatological patients and promotion of adherence to treatment, filling a gap. A cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study was carried out. Based on experts’ prior knowledge and extensive collected literature information, two questionnaire protocols, one for pharmacists and another one for patients, were designed. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were carried out in relation to the pharmacists’ questionnaire for instrument validation. The results indicate that knowledge of pharmacists regarding dermatoses and their treatment is considered acceptable. Most of the pharmacists were reported to provide information to patients. Oppositely, patients reported not to have receive it. This is an important issue because pharmacists play a primary role in the management of several diseases. As non-adherence can be triggered by poor understanding of the dosing instructions, pharmacists’ communication practices play an important role in improving this hinderance. Results from this study identified pharmacist–patient communication gaps, so the development of guidelines to improve the transmission of clear dosage regimen instructions and knowledge about patient’s disease are of paramount importance. Training programs for continuous education of pharmacist should be implemented to solve the identified communication problems found in this study.

Keywords: community pharmacist; treatment adherence; disease management; pharmacists’ knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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