Hijazi Mohamad Ali, Shatila Hibeh, El-Lakany Abdalla, Aboul Ela Maha, Kharroubi Samer, Alameddine Mohamad, Naja Farah
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
BMJ Open. 2019 Mar 8;9(3):e025074. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025074.
Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to provide patients with evidence-based information in order to ensure effective and safe use of Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products.
Assess beliefs, practices and knowledge related to CAM products among community pharmacists in Lebanon.
DESIGN, METHODS AND SETTING: Using stratified random sampling, a nationally representative survey was conducted among community pharmacists in Lebanon. Through face-to-face interviews, pharmacists completed a multicomponent questionnaire consisting of four sections: (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) beliefs related to regulation of CAM products, role of media in promoting their safe use, availability of resources and continuing education; (3) practices including selling CAM products, providing advice for patients and reporting adverse effects and (4) knowledge about specific CAM products, their uses, side effects and interactions.
A total of 341 pharmacists agreed to participate (response rate: 86%). Only pharmacists with complete data were included in this study (n=310). Pharmacists agreed that CAM products are effective (63.8%) and that they should be exclusively sold in pharmacies (80.3%), but disagreed that commercially marketed CAM products are well regulated (63.5%) and that media plays a positive role in educating users about these products (55.8%). As for practices, 64.5% of pharmacists were always or often advising patients on safe use; however, 74.2% of participants rarely or never reported adverse effects. Regarding knowledge, although the majority of pharmacists were aware of the uses of CAM products, fewer knew about their side effects and their interactions with drugs. After adjustment for covariates, receiving education/training on CAM products during university was the sole predictor of higher knowledge score (ß=0.68, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.07).
This study revealed positive beliefs of pharmacists in Lebanon towards CAM products and indicated important gaps in their practice and knowledge. Deliberate efforts to enhance the education of pharmacists are warranted to ensure the safe integration and use of CAM products in Lebanon.
药剂师在为患者提供循证信息方面具有独特地位，以确保补充和替代医学（CAM）产品的有效和安全使用。
评估黎巴嫩社区药剂师对CAM产品的信念、实践和知识。
设计、方法与背景：采用分层随机抽样，在黎巴嫩社区药剂师中进行了一项具有全国代表性的调查。通过面对面访谈，药剂师完成了一份由四个部分组成的多组分问卷：（1）社会人口学特征；（2）与CAM产品监管、媒体在促进其安全使用中的作用、资源可用性和继续教育相关的信念；（3）实践，包括销售CAM产品、为患者提供建议以及报告不良反应；（4）关于特定CAM产品、其用途、副作用和相互作用的知识。
共有341名药剂师同意参与（应答率：86%）。本研究仅纳入了数据完整的药剂师（n = 310）。药剂师们认同CAM产品是有效的（63.8%），且它们应仅在药店销售（80.3%），但不认同商业销售的CAM产品受到良好监管（63.5%）以及媒体在教育用户了解这些产品方面发挥积极作用（55.8%）。至于实践方面，64.5%的药剂师总是或经常就安全使用向患者提供建议；然而，74.2%的参与者很少或从未报告过不良反应。关于知识，尽管大多数药剂师知晓CAM产品的用途，但了解其副作用以及与药物相互作用的较少。在对协变量进行调整后，大学期间接受过CAM产品教育/培训是知识得分较高的唯一预测因素（β = 0.68，95%CI 0.29至1.07）。
本研究揭示了黎巴嫩药剂师对CAM产品的积极信念，并指出了他们在实践和知识方面的重要差距。有必要做出刻意努力来加强药剂师的教育，以确保CAM产品在黎巴嫩的安全整合和使用。
