Assessment of Community Pharmacists’ Response to Patients with PCOS with Adverse Drug Events in Qatar: Simulated Client Approach

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Abstract
The public considers community pharmacists the most accessible healthcare providers. Services provided by pharmacists such as dispensing, counseling, and monitoring of adverse drug reactions have positive effects on patient health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Qatari community pharmacists' data gathering, labeling, dispensing, and counseling practices in response to patients with adverse drug events (ADE). This study is a simulated client (SC) observational descriptive study. Thirty community pharmacies were chosen at random and placed in one of the two groups with 15 interactions over the phone and 15 interactions in person. The case is about a patient with PCOS taking metformin who presented with bothersome diarrhea and sought assistance from a pharmacist. Simulated clients used the Data Collection Tool to gather data. Each simulated client completed forty interactions with community pharmacists. Ninety percent of pharmacists dispensed medication, mostly antibiotics (37.5%) and antidiarrheal (67.5%). A total of 7 pharmacists (17.5%) made referrals. The majority of pharmacists (87.5% and 82.5%, respectively) failed to obtain crucial patient information, such as the frequency and duration of diarrhea. The SC had to remind all the pharmacists that this is an ADE from metformin. More than one-third of pharmacists (43.75%) who dispensed medication did not label any of it. No significant difference was found between groups in data gathering and dispensing (P-value >0.05). Current community pharmacy consultation, labeling, and counseling practices on ADEs are inconsistent with evidence-based practice and need to be improved. Such a study is scarce, and it is the first simulated client approach assessing the community pharmacy responses to ADE in the State of Qatar. This topic is important for minimizing the practice gap and to develop professional training programs that are desperately needed to advance the profession. Keywords: patient, pharmacies, adverse drug events, Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, Qatar. https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.50.3.6

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