Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-rdgjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-07T13:00:59.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAPs) of Community Pharmacists Regarding COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Survey in 2 Provinces of Pakistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2021

Khayal Muhammad*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Near East University, Nicosia, North Cyprus, Turkey
Muhammad Saqlain
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacy, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Gul Muhammad
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Ataullah Hamdard
Affiliation:
Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Department of Statistics, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey
Muhammad Naveed
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
Muhammad Hammad Butt*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Siraj Khan
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacy, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Najlaa Saadi Ismael
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Philadelphia University, Amman, Jordan
Zakir Khan
Affiliation:
Çukurova Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Tıbbi Farmakoloji Anabilim Dalı, Sarıçam, Adana, Turkey
Yusuf Karatas
Affiliation:
Çukurova Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Tıbbi Farmakoloji Anabilim Dalı, Sarıçam, Adana, Turkey Balcalı Hospital, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey
*
Corresponding authors: Muhammad Hammad Butt, Email: hmdbut@ucp.edu.pk; Khayal Muhammad, Email: khayal866@gmail.com.
Corresponding authors: Muhammad Hammad Butt, Email: hmdbut@ucp.edu.pk; Khayal Muhammad, Email: khayal866@gmail.com.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global pandemic with no therapy, and pharmacists being a part of the health care system have a vital role in the management of COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists (CPs) regarding COVID-19.

Method:

An online survey was conducted among 393 CPs in 2 provinces of Pakistan during the lockdown period. A validated questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha, 0.745) was used for data collection. All statistical analyses were analyzed by using SPSS, version 21 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY).

Results:

Among 393 participants, 71.5% (n = 281) had good knowledge, 44% (n = 175) had a positive attitude, and 57.3% (n = 225) had good practices regarding COVID-19. Social media (45.29%, n = 178) were reported as the main source to seek information of COVID-19. Good knowledge, age ≥ 26 years, and a PhD degree level were the substantial determinants (P = < 0.05) of a good attitude. Similarly, a CP with experience of > 5 years, a PhD degree, good knowledge, and a good attitude has higher odds of having good practices as compared with reference categories (P = < 0.05).

Conclusion:

In short, a majority of the CPs had good knowledge but had a poor attitude and practice toward the management of COVID-19. Standard-structured educational and counseling programs for CPs regarding COVID-19 are needed for effective management.

Information

Type
Original Research
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021
Figure 0

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of community pharmacists

Figure 1

Figure 1. The various information sources used by community pharmacists (n = 393).

Figure 2

Figure 2. Practices among community pharmacists regarding COVID-19.

Figure 3

Table 2. Difference in knowledge, attitude, and practice by sample characteristics

Figure 4

Table 3. Regression analysis for factors associated with good knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding COVID-19

Figure 5

Table 4. Correlation between scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice

Supplementary material: File

Muhammad et al. supplementary material

Muhammad et al. supplementary material 1

Download Muhammad et al. supplementary material(File)
File 17.2 KB
Supplementary material: File

Muhammad et al. supplementary material

Muhammad et al. supplementary material 2

Download Muhammad et al. supplementary material(File)
File 17.4 KB