Investigation of knowledge level, attitudes and behaviors of pharmacists in asthma pharmaceutical care

Introduction: Asthma is a common disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality. Today, many people of all ages and ethnicities seem to suffer from asthma. The burden of this disease on government, health systems, families and patients appears to be increasing worldwide.The aim of the thesis; to determine pharmacists' perceptions about asthma, their level of knowledge, attitudes and their compliance with asthma pharmaceutical care practices with the help of questionnaires. Materials and Methods: Our research was designed as a descriptive prospective study investigating the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of pharmacists in asthma pharmaceutical care. Pharmacists working in community pharmacies, hospitals, public and private sectors over the age of 18 who approved to participate in the study after the necessary information was given between September and December 2021 were included in our study. Google forms survey system was used as the online survey system. The questionnaire was sent to the participants digitally as an e-mail or message. Non-discriminatory snowball sampling method was used as the sampling method. Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.4±8.86. Although the highest number of participants is 71 years old, there is also a 22-year-old participant. The level of thinking that my knowledge about asthma is sufficient is 3.27±1.18. In the asthma knowledge level measurement questionnaire, the mean value of the knowledge level obtained by the participants was recorded as 79.7±12.3. The level of knowledge about asthma is independent of professional experience. The level of knowledge about asthma is independent of the mean knowledge (70 points). Participants stated that the number of attacks would decrease in the pharmaceutical care of asthma involving the pharmacist. Pharmacists stated that communication between healthcare professionals and patients should be improved in order to prevent suboptimal drug use in asthma patients. They stated that the asthma pharmaceutical care service provided by community pharmacists may lead to improvement in clinical and economic outcomes. Conclusion: The results showed that pharmacists had sufficient knowledge about asthma. He found that pharmacists had a positive attitude towards the treatment of asthma. According to pharmacists, it was stated that good communication between the patient and the health care team is necessary for the successful management of asthma. Again, the pharmacists who participated in the study think that pharmacists play an important role in the asthma care team. Keywords: Asthma, clinical pharmacy, pharmaceutical care, level of knowledge, attitude and behavior