Original Research Article

Assessing the Knowledge of Asthma Among Community Pharmacists in Edo State

Valentine U Odili^1* and Felix T Ajayi²

¹Department of Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

²Pharmacy Department, Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta. 

Received: 09-Jun-09         Revised: 25-Dec-09           Accepted: 26-Dec-09

International Journal of Health Research, December 2009; 2(4): 315-321

Abstract

Methods: Seventy-six registered community pharmacists in Edo State completed a structured questionnaire consisting of open and close ended questions which addressed issues relating to their knowledge of asthma.

Results: The mean knowledge score of the pharmacists was 8.04±1.79 over a maximum possible score of 14 (range of 4-14) corresponding to 57.4% which was thought to be average performance. Respondents performed best in issues relating to the definition of asthma and recognizing the features of asthma symptoms while areas of knowledge deficiency included recognizing the main symptoms of asthma, factors that can cause asthmatic attacks and the proper mode of delivering asthma medications. The knowledge of the respondents was unrelated to gender, age, additional qualifications and location of their premises. Pharmacists who had received a recent training on asthma had statistically significant higher scores (p=0.04).

Cconclusion:  The knowledge of asthma by the community pharmacists surveyed was average. These results bring into focus the need for community pharmacists to undergo continuing professional education in order to update their knowledge and skills.

Keywords: Knowledge, Community pharmacists, Asthma, Benin City.