Pharmacy students’ attitudes toward pharmaceutical care in Qatar

Figures & data

Table 1 Respondent sociodemographic characteristics

Characteristic	Frequency (percentage)
Country of origin (N=46)
Algeria	3 (7%)
Egypt	6 (13%)
Eritrea	1 (1%)
Iraq	5 (11%)
Jordan	6 (13%)
Libya	3 (7%)
Palestine	10 (22%)
Qatar	2 (4%)
Somalia	2 (4%)
Sudan	3 (7%)
Syria	3 (7%)
Yemen	2 (4%)
Current professional pharmacy year (N=46)
Second	20 (44%)
Third	12 (26%)
Four	14 (30%)
Marital status (N=46)
Unmarried	45 (98%)
Married	1 (2%)
Past training experience in a pharmacy environment including SPEP (N=46)
Yes	28 (61%)
No	18 (39%)
In case of receiving training: training setting (N=28)
Community pharmacy	5 (18%)
Hospital pharmacy	5 (18%)
Ambulatory clinic pharmacy	3 (11%)
Hospital pharmacy and community pharmacy	3 (11%)
Hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, and ambulatory clinic pharmacy	12 (42%)

Abbreviation: SPEP, structured practical experience in pharmacy.

Table 2 Students’ attitudes towards pharmaceutical care per PCAS item

Statement		Frequency (percentage)					Mean ± SD (95% CI)	Median (IQR)
		Please indicate your extent of agreement with the following statements regarding your attitudes towards pharmaceutical care
		Strongly agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly disagree
1.	All pharmacists should perform pharmaceutical care	24 (52%)	18 (39%)	4 (9%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.43±0.65 (4.24–4.63)	5 (4–5)
2.	Primary responsibility of pharmacists in health care setting should be to prevent and solve medication-related problems	29 (63%)	17 (37%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.63±0.49 (4.48–4.76)	5 (4–5)
3.	Pharmacists’ primary responsibility should be to practice pharmaceutical care	17 (37%)	18 (39%)	10 (22%)	0 (0%)	1 (2%)	4.11±0.82 (3.87–4.33)	4 (3.75–5)
4.	Pharmacy students can perform pharmaceutical care during their clerkship	15 (32%)	32 (50%)	4 (9%)	1 (2%)	3 (7%)	4.04±0.94 (3.74–4.30)	4 (4–5)
5.	I think the practice of pharmaceutical care is valuable	31 (67%)	15 (33%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.67±0.47 (4.52–4.80)	5 (4–5)
6.	Providing pharmaceutical care takes too much time and efforta	10 (22%)	25 (54%)	9 (20%)	0 (0%)	2 (4%)	2.06±0.77 (1.85–2.30)	2 (2–2.25)
7.	I would like to perform pharmaceutical care as a pharmacist practitioner	26 (57%)	18 (39%)	2 (4%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.52±0.59 (4.35–4.70)	5 (4–5)
8.	Providing pharmaceutical care is professionally rewarding	26 (56%)	17 (37%)	3 (7%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.5±0.62 (4.30–4.67)	5 (4–5)
9.	I feel that the pharmaceutical care is the right direction for the provision to be headed	26 (56%)	16 (35%)	4 (9%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.48±0.66 (4.28–4.67)	5 (4–5)
10.	I feel that pharmaceutical care movement would benefit pharmacists	27 (59%)	17 (37%)	2 (4%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.54±0.58 (4.37–4.72)	5 (4–5)
11.	I feel that pharmaceutical care movement will improve patient health	32 (70%)	14 (30%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.69±0.46 (4.56–4.83)	5 (4–5)
12.	I feel that practicing pharmaceutical care will benefit my professional pharmacy career as a pharmacy practitioner	30 (65%)	15 (33%)	1 (2%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4.63±0.53 (4.48–4.78)	5 (4–5)
13.	Providing pharmaceutical care is not worth the additional workload that it places on the pharmacista	2 (4%)	4 (9%)	6 (13%)	13 (28%)	21 (46%)	3.85±1.07 (0.77–1.28)	4 (3–5)

Note:

a Reversed score for negatively worded item.

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; IQR, interquartile range; PCAS, Pharmaceutical Care Attitudes Survey; SD standard deviation.

Table 3 Students’ attitudes towards pharmaceutical care per PCAS scale

Scale	Mean ± SD	Minimum score	Maximum score	Range
Professional duty	13.17±1.65	10	15	5
Professional benefit	36.08±3.68	28	40	12
Return on effort	5.91 ±1.53	2	9	7

Abbreviations: PCAS, Pharmaceutical Care Attitudes Survey; SD standard deviation.

Table 4 Students’ perceived barriers for PC provision

Barrier	Frequency (percentage)
	To what extent would each of the following barriers prevent you from providing PC when you become a pharmacist in the future?
	High extent	Moderate extent	Low extent
Inadequate drug information resources in the pharmacy	25 (55%)	14 (30%)	7 (15%)
Lack of access to the patient medical record in the pharmacy	35 (76%)	11 (24%)	0 (0%)
Lack of therapeutics knowledge	18 (39%)	11 (24%)	17 (37%)
Lack of understanding of pharmaceutical care	17 (37%)	9 (20%)	20 (43%)
Inadequate training in pharmaceutical care	16 (35%)	14 (30%)	16 (35%)
Lack of workplace for counseling in the pharmacy	20 (44%)	19 (41%)	7 (15%)
Inadequate technology in the pharmacy	20 (43.5%)	20 (43.5%)	6 (13%)
Lack of self confidence	15 (33%)	12 (26%)	19 (41%)
Time constraints	24 (53%)	17 (38%)	4 (9%)
Poor image of pharmacist’s role in society	23 (50%)	14 (30%)	9 (20%)
Inability to deal with a different gender	11 (24%)	6 (13%)	29 (63%)
Religious constraints	7 (15%)	3 (7%)	36 (78%)

Abbreviation: PC, pharmaceutical care.

Table 5 Statistically significant correlation between students characteristics and their attitudes toward pharmaceutical carea

	F (Spearman’s rho)	P-values <0.05 (Spearman’s rho)
Professional year versus “Primary responsibility of pharmacists in health care setting should be to prevent and solve medication-related problems”	−0.320	0.030
Professional year versus “I think the practice of pharmaceutical care is valuable”	−0.318	0.031
Professional year versus “I feel that pharmaceutical care movement will improve patient health”	−0.373	0.011
Professional year versus “I feel that practicing pharmaceutical care will benefit my professional pharmacy career as a pharmacy practitioner”	−0.299	0.044
Weeks of practical experience versus “Primary responsibility of pharmacists in health care setting should be to prevent and solve medication-related problems”	−0.416	0.005
Weeks of practical experience versus “Pharmacy students can perform pharmaceutical care during their clerkship”	−0.363	0.016
Weeks of practical experience versus “I think the practice of pharmaceutical care is valuable”	−0.412	0.005
Weeks of practical experience versus “I feel that pharmaceutical care movement will improve patient health”	−0.412	0.005
Weeks of practical experience versus “I feel that practicing pharmaceutical care will benefit my professional pharmacy career as a pharmacy practitioner”	−0.327	0.03

Note:

a Only statistically significant correlations between student characteristics and their pharmaceutical care attitudes are included in this table.