A cross-sectional survey on community pharmacists readiness to fight COVID-19 in a developing country: knowledge, attitude, and practice in Lebanon

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Abstract

Background

Lebanon, a developing Middle Eastern country, was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred amid a severe national economic crisis. Community pharmacists are responsible for dispensing appropriate medications and products in addition to counseling, informing and educating the public, and promoting disease prevention and infection control.

Objective

This study aimed to assess community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate behavior changes and safety measures.

Methods

An anonymous and standardized online questionnaire in English was disseminated via social media platforms to Lebanese community pharmacists. The questionnaire consisted of 95 items designed as Likert-scales and multiple-choice questions divided into four different sections: socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge-based, attitude-based, and pharmacy practice questions. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to summarize the demographic characteristics, and indices were created for knowledge, attitude, and practice by computing the correct answers for each section.

Results

A total of 310 questionnaires were completed. Around 61% have expressed their fear of getting infected with COVID-19 due to occupational exposure. The respondents were able to answer 80–90% of the knowledge-based questions of the survey. A more careful/anxious attitude, but not knowledge, was associated with overall better practice ( p = 0.03). Also, respondents stated that they are dispensing protective equipment items such as masks (87%), gloves (60%), and sanitizers (77%) in small quantities due to limited availability.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed an adequate level of knowledge and good practice towards COVID-19 among Lebanese community pharmacists. Their fears of contracting the virus and compromising the safety of those around them are justified. However, their supply of protective equipment is limited.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40545-021-00327-6.

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Most cited references 11

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Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey

Bao-Liang Zhong, Wei Luo, Hai-Mei Li … (2020)

Unprecedented measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic in China. People's adherence to control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. In this study, we investigated Chinese residents' KAP towards COVID-19 during the rapid rise period of the outbreak. An online sample of Chinese residents was successfully recruited via the authors' networks with residents and popular media in Hubei, China. A self-developed online KAP questionnaire was completed by the participants. The knowledge questionnaire consisted of 12 questions regarding the clinical characteristics and prevention of COVID-19. Assessments on residents' attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 included questions on confidence in winning the battle against COVID-19 and wearing masks when going out in recent days. Among the survey completers (n=6910), 65.7% were women, 63.5% held a bachelor degree or above, and 56.2% engaged in mental labor. The overall correct rate of the knowledge questionnaire was 90%. The majority of the respondents (97.1%) had confidence that China can win the battle against COVID-19. Nearly all of the participants (98.0%) wore masks when going out in recent days. In multiple logistic regression analyses, the COVID-19 knowledge score (OR: 0.75-0.90, P<0.001) was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of negative attitudes and preventive practices towards COVID-2019. Most Chinese residents of a relatively high socioeconomic status, in particular women, are knowledgeable about COVID-19, hold optimistic attitudes, and have appropriate practices towards COVID-19. Health education programs aimed at improving COVID-19 knowledge are helpful for Chinese residents to hold optimistic attitudes and maintain appropriate practices. Due to the limited sample representativeness, we must be cautious when generalizing these findings to populations of a low socioeconomic status.

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Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

Giao T. Huynh, ThiNgoc Han Nguyen, VanKhanh Tran … (2020)

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Protecting Health Care Workers during the COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak –Lessons from Taiwan's SARS response

Jonathan Schwartz, Chwan-Chuen King, Muh-Yong Yen (2020)

Abstract During major epidemic outbreaks, demand for health care workers grows even as the extreme pressures they face cause declining availability. We draw on Taiwan’s SARS experience to argue that a modified form of Traffic Control Bundling protects health care worker safety and by extension strengthens overall COVID-19 epidemic control.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Souheil Hallit:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6918-5689

souheilhallit@hotmail.com

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Pharm Policy Pract

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Pharm Policy Pract

Title: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 2052-3211

Publication date (Electronic): 11 June 2021

Publication date PMC-release: 11 June 2021

Publication date Collection: 2021

Volume: 14

Electronic Location Identifier: 51

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.411654.3, ISNI 0000 0004 0581 3406, Pharmacy Department, , American University of Beirut Medical Center, ; Beirut, Lebanon

[2 ]GRID grid.444421.3, ISNI 0000 0004 0417 6142, School of Pharmacy, , Lebanese International University, ; Beirut, Lebanon

[3 ]INSPECT-LB: Institut National de Santé Publique, d’Épidémiologie Clinique et de Toxicologie, Beirut, Lebanon

[4 ]GRID grid.411323.6, ISNI 0000 0001 2324 5973, School of Pharmacy, , Lebanese American University, ; Byblos, Lebanon

[5 ]GRID grid.42271.32, ISNI 0000 0001 2149 479X, Faculty of Pharmacy, , Saint-Joseph University, ; Beirut, Lebanon

[6 ]GRID grid.42271.32, ISNI 0000 0001 2149 479X, Laboratory of Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacy and Quality Control of Drugs, Pôle Technologie-Santé (PTS), Faculty of Pharmacy, , Saint-Joseph University, ; Beirut, 1107 2180 Lebanon

[7 ]GRID grid.411324.1, ISNI 0000 0001 2324 3572, Faculty of Pharmacy, , Lebanese University, ; Hadat, Lebanon

[8 ]GRID grid.411324.1, ISNI 0000 0001 2324 3572, CERIPH: Center for Research in Public Health, Pharmacoepidemiology Surveillance Unit, Faculty of Public Health, , Lebanese University, ; Fanar, Lebanon

[9 ]GRID grid.444434.7, ISNI 0000 0001 2106 3658, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, , Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), ; Jounieh, Lebanon

[10 ]GRID grid.413056.5, ISNI 0000 0004 0383 4764, University of Nicosia Medical School, ; Nicosia, Cyprus

Author information

Souheil Hallit http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6918-5689

Article

Publisher ID: 327

DOI: 10.1186/s40545-021-00327-6

PMC ID: 8193173

PubMed ID: 34116719

SO-VID: 24cf00cc-ba85-4799-8167-b6b6bd1187e1

License:

Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

History

Date received : 7 September 2020

Date accepted : 20 May 2021

Custom metadata

Keywords: covid-19,knowledge,attitude,practice,protective measures,patient service,community pharmacy

Data availability:

Keywords: covid-19, knowledge, attitude, practice, protective measures, patient service, community pharmacy

A cross-sectional survey on community pharmacists readiness to fight COVID-19 in a developing country: knowledge, attitude, and practice in Lebanon

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Abstract

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Supplementary Information

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 11

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey

Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

Protecting Health Care Workers during the COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak –Lessons from Taiwan's SARS response

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