A cross‑sectional study of community pharmacists' awareness and knowledge regarding down syndrome management

AL TAIE A. H. K., YILMAZ Z.

52nd ESCP Symposium on Clinical Pharmacy. Implementing and scaling sustainable clinical pharmacy practice, Krakow, Polonya, 21 - 23 Ekim 2024, (Özet Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Krakow
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Polonya
  • Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genomic disorder causing intellectual disabilities and is associated with characteristic dysmorphic features as well as many related health problems [1]. The need for pharmacists to be more effective in the general management of patients with DS cannot be dismissed given the rising and excessive medication usage.

Aim: To assess the awareness and knowledge of DS pharmacotherapy, along with an assessment of the provision of patient education about DS management by community pharmacists in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Method: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted among community pharmacists in Istanbul, Türkiye using a structured, validated questionnaire to assess the awareness and knowledge of treatment and patient education among DS patients and their caregivers among community pharmacists. Data analysis was carried out using Microsoft Office Excel 2013 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for Windows version 23.0. Number data, whereas the mean, standard deviation, and median range were used to express numerical variables.

Results: A total of 105 community pharmacists were included, with the majority of female participants (51.4%). 81% of community pharmacists have never had training about DS. The mean knowledge score regarding DS management was 6.26 ± 2.0. However, 28.6% of the participants were aware of the medicines used in DS., 25.7% had knowledge regarding drugs’ adverse effects, 23.8% about drug interactions, and 26.7% reported provision of patient education to the patients, family members or caregivers when supplying the medicines used in DS.

Conclusion: Turkish community pharmacists reported an acceptable level of DS general disease management. However, they need to improve their involvement regarding patient education while supplying the medicines used in DS management.

References/Acknowledgments