An Examination of the Factors Affecting Community Pharmacists’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Impressions About the COVID-19 Pandemic (original) (raw)
2021, Turkish Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Introduction: COVID-19 related cases and deaths are ongoing through the world but still there are no effective vaccines and drugs. It is important for the prevention and control of the disease that pharmacists have sufficient knowledge and awareness. COVID-19 has been widely covered in media, and the media has been a commonly used source by healthcare professionals. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and impressions of community pharmacists about COVID-19 and factors effecting this. Methods: The questions in this survey were formed using guideline created by WHO, guide composed by the Turkish COVID-19 Scholarly Commission and data declared in the Ministry of Health website. The questionnaire was designed on Google forms and then applied to the community pharmacists all over the Turkey by sharing the survey link. Results: Analyzes of 393 questionnaires showed that ministry of health / government statements, internet (scientific sources) and media were the most preffered sources for information (96.7%, 89.6% and 84%, respectively). 'Ways to be protected against COVID-19' was the most searched title (96.9%). Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin were the name of the two drugs mostly written (57.5% and 50.1%, respectively) for the treatment of COVID-19 in Turkey. It was determined that the participants receiving information from media provided less training to patients / customers on personal protection measures against COVID-19 (83.3%) and COVID-19 symptoms (78.8%); however their behavior in training pharmacy staff is just the opposite of this. Approximately half of the participants (46.6%) trust the Ministry of health the most regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion and Conclusion: Media and other sources affect pharmacists' knowledge, behavior and impressions. High level of knowledge positively affects people's behavior. It is important that pharmacists should have accurate information about COVID-19 and transfer u n c o r r e c t e d p r o o f their knowledge to the society and to provide patient education in order to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.
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