Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR
IntroductionDiarrhea remains a major global health issue for children under five, contributing substantially to morbidity and mortality. Community pharmacists play a pivotal role in the management of these children; however, their competence in managing childhood diarrhea in Saudi Arabia is under-re...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Pediatrics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2024.1342493/full |
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| author | Faris S. Alnezary Amira R. Alamri Rafa D. Alrehaili Dina S. Alnizari Fahad Alzahrani Mansour Mahmoud Masaad S. Almutairi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Brian Godman Brian Godman |
| author_facet | Faris S. Alnezary Amira R. Alamri Rafa D. Alrehaili Dina S. Alnizari Fahad Alzahrani Mansour Mahmoud Masaad S. Almutairi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Brian Godman Brian Godman |
| author_sort | Faris S. Alnezary |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionDiarrhea remains a major global health issue for children under five, contributing substantially to morbidity and mortality. Community pharmacists play a pivotal role in the management of these children; however, their competence in managing childhood diarrhea in Saudi Arabia is under-researched. This is important to ensure optimal patient care.MethodSimulated patients (SPs) presenting with three pediatric diarrhea scenarios were used to evaluate pharmacists’ practice in terms of their counselling, history taking, over-the-counter (OTC) prescribing, medication instructions, diet/fluid advice, and/or information provision. Pharmacists’ practice was categorized into adequate, less adequate, and poor.Results182 community pharmacists, primarily male and non-Saudi, participated in the study, of which 60% were in chain pharmacies. Only 5% showed adequate practice in currently managing pediatric diarrhea. Of the 182 simulated patient visits, 62% received medication in all three scenarios and 20% were referred to physicians, with 16% of pharmacists failing to provide any form of intervention. The main medications recommended were kaolin (34%), pectin (34%) and metronidazole (11%). While most pharmacists (86%) asked about the patient's identity and age, 15% provided incorrect management information, 16% failed to provide guidance on the prescribed medicines, and 18% dispensed antimicrobials without a valid prescription.ConclusionA high level of inadequate management of pediatric diarrhea in Saudi Arabia was observed. This highlights the need for extensive training to improve community pharmacists’ practice in service delivery including providing counselling and advice on the appropriate management of childhood diarrhea. The latter is particularly important to reduce antimicrobial resistance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:56:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac551ec0b321462180a92df9111867da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:56:15Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Pediatrics |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac551ec0b321462180a92df9111867da2024-03-18T04:57:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pediatrics2296-23602024-03-011210.3389/fped.2024.13424931342493Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMRFaris S. Alnezary0Amira R. Alamri1Rafa D. Alrehaili2Dina S. Alnizari3Fahad Alzahrani4Mansour Mahmoud5Masaad S. Almutairi6Amanj Kurdi7Amanj Kurdi8Amanj Kurdi9Amanj Kurdi10Brian Godman11Brian Godman12Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi ArabiaStrathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United KingdomDepartment of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South AfricaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, IraqDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Al-Kitab University, Kirkuk, IraqStrathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United KingdomDepartment of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South AfricaIntroductionDiarrhea remains a major global health issue for children under five, contributing substantially to morbidity and mortality. Community pharmacists play a pivotal role in the management of these children; however, their competence in managing childhood diarrhea in Saudi Arabia is under-researched. This is important to ensure optimal patient care.MethodSimulated patients (SPs) presenting with three pediatric diarrhea scenarios were used to evaluate pharmacists’ practice in terms of their counselling, history taking, over-the-counter (OTC) prescribing, medication instructions, diet/fluid advice, and/or information provision. Pharmacists’ practice was categorized into adequate, less adequate, and poor.Results182 community pharmacists, primarily male and non-Saudi, participated in the study, of which 60% were in chain pharmacies. Only 5% showed adequate practice in currently managing pediatric diarrhea. Of the 182 simulated patient visits, 62% received medication in all three scenarios and 20% were referred to physicians, with 16% of pharmacists failing to provide any form of intervention. The main medications recommended were kaolin (34%), pectin (34%) and metronidazole (11%). While most pharmacists (86%) asked about the patient's identity and age, 15% provided incorrect management information, 16% failed to provide guidance on the prescribed medicines, and 18% dispensed antimicrobials without a valid prescription.ConclusionA high level of inadequate management of pediatric diarrhea in Saudi Arabia was observed. This highlights the need for extensive training to improve community pharmacists’ practice in service delivery including providing counselling and advice on the appropriate management of childhood diarrhea. The latter is particularly important to reduce antimicrobial resistance.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2024.1342493/fullantibioticsappropriate careantimicrobial resistancepediatric diarrheacommunity pharmacypublic health |
| spellingShingle | Faris S. Alnezary Amira R. Alamri Rafa D. Alrehaili Dina S. Alnizari Fahad Alzahrani Mansour Mahmoud Masaad S. Almutairi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Amanj Kurdi Brian Godman Brian Godman Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR Frontiers in Pediatrics antibiotics appropriate care antimicrobial resistance pediatric diarrhea community pharmacy public health |
| title | Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR |
| title_full | Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR |
| title_fullStr | Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR |
| title_full_unstemmed | Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR |
| title_short | Managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia and the implications for AMR |
| title_sort | managing infectious diarrhea among young children in community pharmacies in saudi arabia and the implications for amr |
| topic | antibiotics appropriate care antimicrobial resistance pediatric diarrhea community pharmacy public health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2024.1342493/full |
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