Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (Nov 2020)

Assessment of Undergraduate Pharmacy Students’ Attitude Towards Pharmaceutical Care in Pakistan: Practice Implications

  • Hussain I,
  • Rasool MF,
  • Imran I,
  • Saeed H,
  • Hashmi F,
  • Akbar M,
  • Abrar MA,
  • Ramzan B,
  • Chaudhry MO,
  • Islam M,
  • Usman A,
  • Nisar N,
  • Majeed A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 1517 – 1525

Abstract

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Iltaf Hussain,1 Muhammad Fawad Rasool,1 Imran Imran,2 Hamid Saeed,3 Furqan Hashmi,3 Muqarrab Akbar,4 Muhammad Asad Abrar,1 Basit Ramzan,5 Muhammad Omer Chaudhry,6 Muhammad Islam,3 Areeba Usman,7 Naveed Nisar,8 Abdul Majeed1 1Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan; 2Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan; 3University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, Allama Iqbal Campus, Lahore 54000, Pakistan; 4Department of Political Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan; 5Al Shifa Pharmacy, Multan, Pakistan; 6School of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan; 7Nishter Medical Hospital, Multan, Pakistan; 8Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanCorrespondence: Abdul MajeedDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, PakistanTel +92 3336139819Email [email protected] and Purpose: Over the past few decades, the focus of pharmacy practice has been shifted from the classical role of drug dispenser to pharmacotherapy expert. Pharmacists now are more often involved in the patient care process by addressing the drug-related needs of the patients and this patient-centered approach is known as pharmaceutical care (PC). The present study was conducted to assess the attitude of pharmacy undergraduate students toward PC and various contributing factors that influence their preference towards it.Method and Instrument: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 422 undergraduate pharmacy students by using a simple random sampling method. A pre-validated and self-reported Pharmaceutical Care Attitude Scale (PCAS) was used for assessing a student’s attitude towards PC.Results: Amongst the 422 undergraduate students, the majority were males (68.2%) and 70.4% were between the age group of 20 and 25 years. The students studying in third, fourth, and fifth year (final year) were 140 (33.2%), 142 (33.6%), and 140 (33.2%), respectively. Overall participant showed a positive attitude toward the PC. Professional year showed significant influence on professional duties (PD) (p< 0.001) and age was significantly associated with return on efforts (ROE) (p< 0.001) and professional benefits (PB) (p< 0.001).Conclusion: Most of the participants showed a positive attitude toward PC and showed motivation to practice it. To promote PC practice in Pakistan, the government along with other professional bodies like Pakistan Pharmacists Association (PPA) should work together in collaboration with global health agencies to develop a well-structured advanced healthcare system in which there is a defined role of PC practice.Keywords: attitude, clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical care, pharmacy practice

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