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- Title
Comparison of the knowledge and skill levels of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians on the implementation of inhaler drug-delivery devices: a cross-sectional study in Şanlıurfa, Turkey.
- Authors
Imamoglu, Didem; Yilmaz, Zehra; Koruk, Ibrahim
- Abstract
Background: Healthcare professionals play an important role in training patients to use inhaler drug-delivery devices (IDDD) effectively with an accurate inhaler technique. In Turkey, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians usually provide information to patients about the use of IDDD in community pharmacies. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and skill levels of the pharmacists and pharmacy technicians consulted in the utilisation of IDDD in Turkey, and to identify whether there is a difference between the pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in terms of their knowledge and skill levels. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2018 and March 2019 among 150 pharmacists and 185 pharmacy technicians in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. While the knowledge levels of participants were evaluated by a written questionnaire containing closed-ended questions, their skill levels on each IDDD according to the correct utilization of the inhaler medications were evaluated by structured observations using the IDDD evaluation form. Results: A significantly higher, accurate knowledge rate was observed in pharmacists than pharmacy technicians (62.2% vs 56.1%; p = 0.036). It is underlined that high practical skills of the pharmacists and the pharmacy technicians are indicated as 86.0% and 84.4% on the systems of Neohaler™ and Turbuhaler®. Diskhaler™ is determined to have the lowest corresponding skill level among the pharmacists (21.3%) and the pharmacy technicians (15.0%). As to the implementation of all IDDDs, the skill levels with the highest inaccuracy and inadequacy are identified in the steps of "Shake the inhaler," "Exhale," "Breath away from the device," "Hold your breath for 10 second," and "Explode the capsule by pressing once the clip next to the device". It has been observed that the pharmacists perform certain steps of Sonahler®, Diskus™, Aerolizer®, Neohaler™, and Diskhaler™ systems with significantly greater accuracy than the pharmacy technicians. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the pharmacists and pharmacy technicians complete most of the steps in the IDDD utilization, except for the Diskhaler™, but they do not perform some of the critical steps required for effective treatment, and they do not have adequate knowledge on IDDD utilization. The level of knowledge and skill of the pharmacist technicians on the IDDD utilization is lower than that of the pharmacists.
- Subjects
TURKEY; NATIONAL competency-based educational tests; DRUG delivery systems; PROFESSIONS; CROSS-sectional method; COMPARATIVE studies; CLINICAL competence; QUESTIONNAIRES; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
Drugs & Therapy Perspectives, 2022, Vol 38, Issue 8, p362
- ISSN
1172-0360
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s40267-022-00933-7