World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

COMMUNITY PHARMACISTS' KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES REGARDING NON-PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS IN JORDAN

Tareq Aljbouri*, Tamer Alzoubi, Abeer Jebreen and Farah Hijazeen

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Community pharmacies are growing rapidly in Jordan. Community pharmacies in Jordan, like in other countries, sell medicals, (OTC) products, and non-pharmaceuticals. Non- medical products include herbal products, cosmetics, baby food and nutrition, maternal and child care products, nutritional supplements, and sports nutrition such as protein powders and protein snacks. A review article on community pharmacy services in developing countries including Jordan concluded that community pharmacy is commercial and profit-oriented especially non-pharmaceutical products. Aim: This study conducted to fill a gap in the literature related to community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding non-pharmaceutical products. Methods: online survey that conducted in Jordan . A total 110 community pharmacists working in all regions of Jordan. The questionnaire was adopted from a previous study with the same purpose contained five sectors. Statistical analysis will perform in SPSS 25 software. Data will analyze using Microsoft Excel 2010. Results: 110 pharmacists contributed with a response rate of 90%. The majority (85%) of the them were female. More than halve of respondents were between 35 to 55yeas old. the majority of them were herbal products (35%) and cosmetics (33%).The majority of respondents (60 %) strongly agree with taking courses about non medication products during university .Furthermore, only 5% of them strongly agree that must the pharmacy intereste in these products because profitable. Less than quarter of them often give the customer all information about these products(18%). Conclusion: The study found that the best-selling non-pharmacological products are herbal products and beauty products. Pharmacists were educated and college educated, even self-taught in non-pharmaceuticals. Pharmacists showed a positive attitude towards non-pharmaceuticals and were wanted in expanding their knowledge in this area through training and considered marketing and advertising to be important tasks for them.

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