Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Gondar-College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Gondar-College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Gondar, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2020 Dec 21;15(12):e0244211. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244211. eCollection 2020.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of cardiovascular risk factors, and its prevalence is becoming alarmingly high in Ethiopia. Studies uncovered as community pharmacy professionals (CPPs) have not yet well integrated into public health programs and priorities. In low income setting like Ethiopia, evidence regarding the roles CPPs in preventing and management of MetS is dearth.
The study was aimed to assess community pharmacy professionals'(CPPs) opinions about metabolic syndrome, describe their perception level towards the effectiveness of the main interventions and explore their extent of involvement in counseling patients with the metabolic syndrome in Gondar town, Northwestern Ethiopia.
A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacists and druggists working in community medication retail outlets (CMROs) in Gondar town, northwestern Ethiopia from April 1 to May 31, 2019. Data were collected using a self-administered pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize different variables, and presented in tables and figure. An independent t-test and one way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) were used to compare mean scores. A 5% level of significance was used.
Out of the 75 CPPs approached, 65(40 pharmacists and 25 druggists) completed the survey giving a response rate of 86.7%. Smoking cessation practice was identified to be low. There were a statistically significant difference (t = 2.144, P = 0.036) in the involvement towards counseling patients between CPPs who claimed to work in pharmacy (mean = 3.96 out of 5 points Likert scale) and drug stores (mean = 3.80 out of 5 points Likert scale).
The study concluded that the overall involvement of professionals in counseling patients, opinion about metabolic syndrome, and perception towards the effectiveness of the intervention was found to be more or less positive. However, the provision of services, such as monitoring therapy, selling equipment for home blood pressure and glucose monitoring and documenting patient care services needs to be encouraged. Given proper education and training, the current study hope that community pharmacists could be an important front-line contributors to contain this emerging epidemic in Gondar town as well as in the entire nation.
代谢综合征（MetS）是一组心血管危险因素，其在埃塞俄比亚的患病率正令人担忧地上升。研究发现，社区药剂师（CPPs）尚未很好地融入公共卫生计划和优先事项。在像埃塞俄比亚这样的低收入环境中，关于 CPP 在预防和管理代谢综合征方面的作用的证据很少。
本研究旨在评估社区药剂师（CPPs）对代谢综合征的看法，描述他们对主要干预措施有效性的认知水平，并探讨他们在戈达镇参与咨询代谢综合征患者的程度，戈达镇位于埃塞俄比亚西北部。
2019 年 4 月 1 日至 5 月 31 日，在埃塞俄比亚西北部戈达镇的社区药物零售网点（CMROs）工作的药剂师和药剂师中进行了一项描述性、横断面研究。使用自我管理的预测试问卷收集数据。使用描述性统计来总结不同的变量，并以表格和图形的形式呈现。使用独立 t 检验和单因素方差分析（Analysis of Variance）比较均值。使用 5%的显著水平。
在 75 名接近的 CPP 中，有 65 名（40 名药剂师和 25 名药剂师）完成了调查，应答率为 86.7%。戒烟实践被认为是低的。在声称在药房（Likert 量表 5 分中的 3.96 分）和药店（Likert 量表 5 分中的 3.80 分）工作的 CPP 之间，在咨询患者方面的参与程度存在统计学显著差异（t = 2.144，P = 0.036）。
研究得出的结论是，专业人员在咨询患者、对代谢综合征的看法以及对干预措施有效性的看法总体上或多或少是积极的。然而，需要鼓励提供服务，例如监测治疗、销售家用血压和血糖监测设备以及记录患者护理服务。考虑到适当的教育和培训，本研究希望社区药剂师能够成为遏制戈达镇乃至整个国家这一新兴流行疾病的重要前线贡献者。
