OBJECTIVE

Paediatric patients are highly exposed to medication errors especially dosing errors. This study assessed the community pharmacists' knowledge about appropriate dosing of antibiotics among paediatric patients, factors affecting community pharmacists' knowledge and barriers that lead to inappropriate dosing of antibiotics.

METHODS

A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1283 Jordanian pharmacists who worked in community pharmacies. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression were conducted.

RESULTS

The response rate was 87.1%. The majority of pharmacists (86.4%) were non-knowledgeable about appropriate dosing of antibiotics among paediatrics. The monthly income of the pharmacist was positively associated with pharmacists' knowledge. The case of azithromycin dosing in acute bacterial pharyngitis was answered correctly by the highest percentage of community pharmacists (55.8%) while the case of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole dosing in lower urinary tract infection was answered correctly by the lowest percentage (15.7%). Poor scientific knowledge about dose calculation was the most reported barrier by the participants (54.7%).

CONCLUSION

Most community pharmacists were non-knowledgeable about appropriate dosing of antibiotics in paediatrics and the level of knowledge was affected by monthly income. Implementing adequate and appropriate educational programmes, constructing specific guidelines that regulate antibiotics practice among community pharmacists are highly recommended.