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Evaluation of health care professionals’ knowledge, attitude and practice on medication safety communication in Kuwait: a cross-sectional study

  • At: PPR SIG 2021 (2021)
  • Type: Digital
  • By: ALHARBI, Amal (University of Hertfordshire , United Kingdom)
  • Co-author(s): Amal Alharbi, Nkiruka Umaru, Sherael Webley, Fatemah Alsaleh and Nada Shebl.
  • Abstract:

    Introduction

    Medicines’ safety communications (MSC) are tools used by drug regulatory agencies to disseminate emergent information affecting medicines safety. MSCs are expected to be implemented in practice to safeguard patients. In Kuwait, Kuwait Drug and Food Control (KDFC), and drug companies are responsible for delivering MSCs to healthcare professionals (HCPs). There is limited knowledge on the successful dissemination and implementation of MSCs in Kuwait.

    Objectives

    Identify HCPs’ knowledge, attitudes, and practice towards MSCs.

    Methods

    A survey questionnaire based on the literature was developed, approved by the research team, and piloted for its suitability. The link to the survey was distributed to HCPs (pharmacists, nurses, physicians, pharmacy technicians) working in Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals via social media and emails from February to May 2021. Analysis included descriptive statistics, and One-Way ANOVA to compare the difference between pharmacists, nurses and physicians (accepted p-value <0.05).

    Results

    517 of the targeted HCPs responded (6 disagreed, 147 answered only demographics, or did not answer any survey questions). Of 364 participants, 71.1% and 36.6% correctly identified KDFC and drug companies as senders of MSCs, respectively. Furthermore, of 329 participants, 46.8% indicated that they always or frequently updated their knowledge about medication safety, whereas 15.8% reported rarely or never updating their knowledge. The practice of updating knowledge was associated with HCP’s discipline background (P= 0.001). Of 310 participants, 59.7% agreed that patients should know about new medicines safety information. Only 5.9% of 303 participants preferred the current way of communication (paper-based hard copies), while 69% preferred combining both hard and soft copies. Participants’ (total responding 279) most frequent reported barriers were lack of guidance (77.8%), lack of space for consultation (67.4%), and lack of a cooperative teamwork environment (60.9%).

    Conclusion

    KDFC should take into consideration HCPs’ preferences related to future MSCs, and the possible barriers that might hinder MSCs’ implementation.

Last update 28 September 2023

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