Alshayban Dhafer Mahdi
Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Clinical Pharmacy, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
J Pharm Policy Pract. 2025 Jan 9;18(1):2442496. doi: 10.1080/20523211.2024.2442496. eCollection 2025.
Pharmaceutical expenditure has been a major concern for decision-makers worldwide. One strategy to control medication costs involves applying pharmacoeconomic (PE) methods in the approval and listing of new medications. Pharmacists need to possess the knowledge, skill, and competence to analyse and implement PE study findings. This study aimed to evaluate the predictors of pharmacy professionals' knowledge and awareness towards PE and their ability to apply its concepts. Furthermore, this study sought to identify the barriers to the practical application of PE.
A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2022 and June 2023. A chi-square test was employed to examine the associations between dependent and independent variables while multiple binary logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of PE knowledge and awareness.
A total of 204 pharmacists were included. The mean age was 29.34 years (SD: 6.45) and 75.5%of participants were male. Of the participants, 46.6% held a bachelor's degree. A total of 81.4% were aware of PEs and 65.2% exhibited low knowledge levels. Around 60% of participants agreed to all the questions concerning the pharmacists' attitudes towards PE. Females were 2.6 times more likely than males to have good PE knowledge (AOR = 2.62, < 0.01). Participants aged 26-35 and those over 36 were 2.6 times (AOR = 2.6, < 0.05) and 2.8 times (AOR = 2.83, < 0.01) more likely to have good knowledge than those under 25, respectively.
This study highlighted a gap in the knowledge, and ability to apply PE concepts in practice. Key predictors such as being aged 30 or older, having longer years of work experience, and holding advanced pharmacy degrees were linked to higher levels of PE knowledge, positive attitudes, and awareness and enhanced the ability to apply PE concept. Future research should assess the effectiveness of PE courses offered in pharmacy colleges across Saudi Arabia.
药品支出一直是全球决策者主要关注的问题。控制药品成本的一项策略是在新药物的审批和上市过程中应用药物经济学（PE）方法。药剂师需要具备分析和应用药物经济学研究结果的知识、技能和能力。本研究旨在评估药学专业人员对药物经济学的知识、认知及其应用药物经济学概念的能力的预测因素。此外，本研究还试图确定药物经济学实际应用的障碍。
在2022年10月至2023年6月期间进行了一项横断面研究。采用卡方检验来检验因变量和自变量之间的关联，同时进行多元二元逻辑回归以确定药物经济学知识和认知的预测因素。
共纳入204名药剂师。平均年龄为29.34岁（标准差：6.45），75.5%的参与者为男性。在参与者中，46.6%拥有学士学位。共有81.4%的人了解药物经济学，65.2%的人知识水平较低。约60%的参与者对所有关于药剂师对药物经济学态度的问题表示认同。女性拥有良好药物经济学知识的可能性是男性的2.6倍（调整优势比[AOR]=2.62，P<0.01）。26至35岁的参与者和36岁以上的参与者拥有良好知识的可能性分别是25岁以下参与者的2.6倍（AOR=2.6，P<0.05）和2.8倍（AOR=2.83，P<0.01）。
本研究突出了在知识以及在实践中应用药物经济学概念的能力方面存在的差距。关键预测因素，如年龄在30岁及以上、工作年限较长以及拥有高级药学学位，与更高水平的药物经济学知识、积极态度和认知相关联，并增强了应用药物经济学概念的能力。未来的研究应评估沙特阿拉伯各药学院提供的药物经济学课程的有效性。
