Open AccessProviding pharmaceutical care during the COVID-19 pandemic: attitudes and experiences of home-treated patients in Jordan
Author(s) -
Tareq L. Mukattash,
Anan S. Jarab,
Walid AlQerem,
Rana Abu Farha,
Rania Itani,
Samar Karout,
Ibrahim L. Mukattash,
Iman A. Basheti
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of pharmaceutical health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.244
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1759-8893
pISSN - 1759-8885
DOI - 10.1093/jphsr/rmab010
Subject(s) - medicine , pharmacy , family medicine , pandemic , covid-19 , computer assisted web interviewing , perception , cross sectional study , nursing , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , marketing , pathology , neuroscience , business , biology
Objectives This study aims to explore home-treated COVID-19 patients’ experiences and perceptions of pharmaceutical care services offered during their sickness. Methods This is a cross-sectional online questionnaire study, where a 30-item questionnaire was texted via a link to COVID-19 patients who were tested positive previously. A list of anonymised numbers was obtained from different COVID-19 testing centres. The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board at the King Abdulla University Hospital/Jordan University of Science and Technology. Key findings A total of 268 patients who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 agreed to participate in this study. Only 22.9% of patients reported taking medications regularly. Almost one-third of respondents (28.7%) indicated that pharmacists were involved in prescribing medicine to patients. Almost half the respondents (49.6%) stated that they or their caregivers obtained information and advice about their medicine from the pharmacists. Only 54.9% of the respondents agreed/strongly agreed that pharmacists have enough scientific information to provide the necessary medical assistance to COVID-19 patients. Patients who work in the medical field, and who always get their medication from the same pharmacy, showed better perception towards pharmaceutical care services that might be provided to COVID-19 patients (P < 0.01). Conclusions Pharmacists had an unsatisfactory contribution to the management of the disease in outpatient settings. Moreover, there was a poor perception of the pharmacists’ role including their knowledge, communication skills and counselling skills. Thus, it is essential to improve pharmacists’ knowledge and practices about infectious diseases.