Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa
Background: Atopic eczema (AE) is a common skin disease with an increasing worldwide prevalence, which has almost doubled over the last decade in South Africa. Many patients commonly explore complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for AE and often initially seek advice from their local pharmac...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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AOSIS
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Health SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/1029 |
| _version_ | 1828521229133283328 |
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| author | Yasmeen Thandar Julia Botha Anisa Mosam |
| author_facet | Yasmeen Thandar Julia Botha Anisa Mosam |
| author_sort | Yasmeen Thandar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Atopic eczema (AE) is a common skin disease with an increasing worldwide prevalence, which has almost doubled over the last decade in South Africa. Many patients commonly explore complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for AE and often initially seek advice from their local pharmacists.
Aim: To explore the knowledge, attitude and practices amongst community pharmacists regarding CAM.
Setting: The study was conducted amongst pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Durban, South Africa.
Methods: During 2016, a cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 158 randomly selected pharmacists, of which 82 responded. Respondents were sent an email with a link to the questionnaire. Where logistically possible, questionnaires were hand-delivered.
Results: The majority of respondents were male (n = 46; 56%), aged between 31 and 40 years. Despite most pharmacists not being familiar with various CAMs for AE, many (43%) recommend them, and 50% were amenable to referring patients to CAM practitioners. Despite 51% reporting that patients do ask about CAM for AE, 54% are not confident discussing or initiating discussions with patients. More than half of the pharmacists (55%) had no CAM training but believed it is essential for inclusion in the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. Most were interested in broadening their knowledge on CAM and felt it would better prepare them in counselling their patients.
Conclusions: The study demonstrated poor knowledge and communication about CAM for AE between pharmacists and patients, although pharmacists exhibited strong interests in learning more about CAM. There is a continuing need for education programmes and inclusion into undergraduate curricula that would assist pharmacists to advise patients on different types of CAMs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T19:45:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3f6a53a5ea994ded854e1779120ba250 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1025-9848 2071-9736 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T19:45:03Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-3f6a53a5ea994ded854e1779120ba2502022-12-22T00:52:55ZafrAOSISHealth SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences1025-98482071-97362019-03-01240e1e610.4102/hsag.v24i0.1029736Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South AfricaYasmeen Thandar0Julia Botha1Anisa Mosam2Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Durban University of Technology, DurbanDiscipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanDepartment of Dermatology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; and, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, DurbanBackground: Atopic eczema (AE) is a common skin disease with an increasing worldwide prevalence, which has almost doubled over the last decade in South Africa. Many patients commonly explore complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for AE and often initially seek advice from their local pharmacists. Aim: To explore the knowledge, attitude and practices amongst community pharmacists regarding CAM. Setting: The study was conducted amongst pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Durban, South Africa. Methods: During 2016, a cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 158 randomly selected pharmacists, of which 82 responded. Respondents were sent an email with a link to the questionnaire. Where logistically possible, questionnaires were hand-delivered. Results: The majority of respondents were male (n = 46; 56%), aged between 31 and 40 years. Despite most pharmacists not being familiar with various CAMs for AE, many (43%) recommend them, and 50% were amenable to referring patients to CAM practitioners. Despite 51% reporting that patients do ask about CAM for AE, 54% are not confident discussing or initiating discussions with patients. More than half of the pharmacists (55%) had no CAM training but believed it is essential for inclusion in the undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. Most were interested in broadening their knowledge on CAM and felt it would better prepare them in counselling their patients. Conclusions: The study demonstrated poor knowledge and communication about CAM for AE between pharmacists and patients, although pharmacists exhibited strong interests in learning more about CAM. There is a continuing need for education programmes and inclusion into undergraduate curricula that would assist pharmacists to advise patients on different types of CAMs.https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/1029pharmacistknowledgepracticescomplementary medicinesatopic eczema |
| spellingShingle | Yasmeen Thandar Julia Botha Anisa Mosam Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa Health SA Gesondheid: Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences pharmacist knowledge practices complementary medicines atopic eczema |
| title | Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa |
| title_full | Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa |
| title_short | Community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in Durban, South Africa |
| title_sort | community pharmacists knowledge attitude and practices towards the use of complementary and alternative medicines in durban south africa |
| topic | pharmacist knowledge practices complementary medicines atopic eczema |
| url | https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/1029 |
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