Kheir Nadir, Gad Hoda Y, Abu-Yousef Safae E
College of Pharmacy, Qatar University, Al Tarfa, Doha, Qatar.
Drug Healthc Patient Saf. 2014 Jan 30;6:7-14. doi: 10.2147/DHPS.S57756. eCollection 2014.
To explore knowledge and attitude of pharmacists in Qatar towards natural health products (NHPs).
The quantitative component of this study consisted of an anonymous, online, self-administered questionnaire to assess knowledge about NHPs among pharmacists in Qatar. Descriptive statistics and inferential analysis were conducted using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS®). Means and standard deviation were used to analyze descriptive data, and statistical significance was expressed as P-value, where P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Associations between variables were measured using Pearson correlation. The qualitative component utilized focus group (FG) meetings with a purposive sample of community pharmacists. Meetings were conducted until a point of saturation was reached. FG discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using a framework approach to sort the data according to emerging themes.
The majority of participants had average to poor knowledge about NHPs while only around 7% had good knowledge. In the FG meetings, participants considered the media, medical representatives, and old systems of natural health as major source of their knowledge. They criticized undergraduate pharmacy courses (for inadequately preparing pharmacists to deal with NHPs) and the pharmacy regulations (for being irrelevant). A perception of NHPs as being "safe" still exists among pharmacists.
Pharmacists' ability to provide effective services associated with NHPs is limited by poor access to evidence-based information and poor knowledge. A perception of NHPs and CAM as 'safe' still exists among pharmacists, and regulations related to NHPs require addressing to follow best practice and ensure patient safety.
探讨卡塔尔药剂师对天然健康产品（NHPs）的知识和态度。
本研究的定量部分包括一份匿名的在线自填问卷，以评估卡塔尔药剂师对NHPs的知识。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS®）进行描述性统计和推断分析。均值和标准差用于分析描述性数据，统计显著性以P值表示，其中P≤0.05被认为具有统计学显著性。变量之间的关联使用Pearson相关性进行测量。定性部分利用与社区药剂师的有目的样本进行焦点小组（FG）会议。会议持续进行直至达到饱和点。FG讨论进行了录音并逐字转录。使用框架方法对数据进行分析，以便根据新出现的主题对数据进行分类。
大多数参与者对NHPs的知识水平一般或较差，只有约7%的人知识水平良好。在FG会议中，参与者认为媒体、医药代表和传统天然健康体系是他们知识的主要来源。他们批评本科药学课程（未充分培养药剂师应对NHPs的能力）和药学法规（不相关）。药剂师中仍然存在NHPs“安全”的观念。
药剂师获取循证信息的机会有限且知识不足，限制了他们提供与NHPs相关有效服务的能力。药剂师中仍然存在NHPs和补充替代医学“安全”的观念，与NHPs相关的法规需要加以完善，以遵循最佳实践并确保患者安全。
