World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND APPROACHES TO ASTHMA MANAGEMENT IN JORDANIAN PHARMACISTS

Aisha Al Khalaila and Alaa Yasin*

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Asthma is an obstructive lung disease associated with shortness of breath, wheezing, and a prolonged expiratory phase during the respiratory cycle. Asthma is a major health disease in Jordan. Over than 200 million people worldwide have asthma. The goal of asthma treatment is to manage symptoms and reduce the number of emergency room visits to treat severity of disease. Poorly treated asthma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Local pharmacists play an important role in asthma management because they are the most accessible health care providers in Jordan. The awareness of pharmacists and patients about the disease and its treatment is a measure that has proven its usefulness. Therefore, qualified pharmacists must have a positive attitude and sufficient knowledge about the results of p sectionsharmacological treatment of patients with asthma. Aim: The purpose of this study is to assess knowledge of and approaches to asthma management in pharmacists at Jordan. Materials and Methods: On line cross-sectional survey conduct from April 2022 to Jun 2022. The study group consisted 110 pharmacists registered with the pharmacy association and working either in hospital or community pharmacies Amman. The questionnaire contained five sections with 33 questions. The five section focused in sociodemographic charter tics, attitude toward asthma, knowledge toward asthma, practice toward asthma, and barriers of counseling. Results: A total 110 pharmacists were participated in this study. Only 100 of them completed the questionnaire with response rate 92%. The majority of them were female (61%). (52%)of pharmacists don't know which factors that increase clearance of theophyllin. One quarter of respondents(28%) answered the question about the advantage of MDI inhaler technique incorrectly. More than third of pharmacists (38%)sometime counsel asthmatic patients about inhaler technique on chronic use. 62% of them often counseling patients to avoid triggering factors. Conclusion: This study showed that pharmacists do not have enough knowledge about asthma. However, hospital pharmacists had a higher knowledge value than community. The pharmacy association should provide continuous educating program to the pharmacists to increase their asthma knowledge and skill.

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