Evaluating the Benefits of Using Mobile Application (diarrhea management step by step) in the Management of Diarrhea by Community Pharmacists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31351/vol32iss1pp245-256Keywords:
Mobile application, Diarrhea, Community pharmacistsAbstract
Diarrhea is one of the most commonly encountered minor ailments in the community pharmacies. It is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. However, the majority of pharmacists in Iraq did not manage diarrheal cases in a proper way. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the benefit of a new mobile application (diarrhea management step by step) to improve the pharmacist's role in the management of diarrhea. The study was conducted from 21th September to 21th October 2021 using a pre-post design via a simulated patient (SP) technique. A validated diarrhea scenario was presented to each pharmacist by the SP twice, once before and the other after giving the mobile application to the pharmacist. Furthermore, pharmacists were asked to rate the application in regard to its ease of use, reducing the time needed for management of diarrhea cases, reducing diagnostic errors, reducing medication errors, and applicability in daily clinical practice. The study sample involved 50 community pharmacists. However, only 47 completed the study. After using the application, all questions necessary to assess diarrhea were significantly improved. Moreover, the average number of questions asked to the SP was significantly increased. On the other hand, providing the SP with an appropriate non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment was also significantly improved. Additionally, counseling the SP with the necessary information about dispensed medication was improved; however, significant improvement was detected only in regard to information about the drug dose and dosing frequency. Most participated pharmacists strongly agreed with the application ease of use, its ability to reduce diagnosis and medication errors, and its applicability for use in daily clinical practice. In conclusion the tested application is an effective method to improve the pharmacist's role in the assessment and management of diarrhea.
References
Abbas A. The role and scope of pharmacists in community settings: a review of developing countries. Int J Allied Med Sci Clin Res. 2014;2(1):32-35.
Ibrhim IR, Al-Tukmagi HF, Wayyes A. Attitudes of Iraqi society towards the role of community pharmacists. Innov pharm. 2013;4(2):1-10.
Sharrad AK. Attitude of consumers towards community pharmacists and their interest in expanding community pharmacist services in Basra, Iraq: A pilot study. AJPS. 2017;17(2):112-122.
Watson MC, Ferguson J, Barton GR, Maskrey V, Blyth A, Paudyal V, et al. A cohort study of influences, health outcomes and costs of patients' health-seeking behaviour for minor ailments from primary and emergency care settings. BMJ Open. 2015;5(2):e006261,2014–006261. Doi. 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006261
GBD 2016 Diarrhoeal Disease Collaborators. Estimates of the global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoea in 195 countries: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Infect Dis. 2018;18(11):1211-1228.
Yusuff KB, Makhlouf AM, Ibrahim MI. Community pharmacists' management of minor ailments in developing countries: A systematic review of types, recommendations, information gathering and counselling practices. Int J Clin Pract. 2021;75(10):e14424.
Aziz MM, Masood I, Yousaf M, Saleem H, Ye D, Fang Y. Pattern of medication selling and self-medication practices: A study from Punjab, Pakistan. PLoS One. 2018;13(3):e0194240.
Whittlesea C, Hodson K. Clinical pharmacy and therapeutics. 6th ed. China. Elsevier; 2019.
Krinsky DL, Ferreri SP, Hemstreet B, etal. Handbook of non prescription drugs. 18th ed. United States. American Pharmacists Association (APhA); 2014.
Chisholm-Burns MA, Schwinghammer TL, Malone PM, etal. Pharmacotherapy principle and practice. 5th ed. United States. McGraw-Hill Education; 2019.
Joseph AA, Odimayo MS, Oluwayemi I O, Fadeyi A, Dada SA. An Overview of the Aetiologic Agents of Diarrhoea Diseases in Children: How far Have We Gone in Management and Control?. Med J Zambia. 2017;44(4): 266-275.
Ibrahim IR, Palaian S, Ibrahim MIM. Assessment of diarrhea treatment and counseling in community pharmacies in Baghdad, Iraq: A simulated patient study. Pharm Pract. 2018;16(4):1313.
Al Hassan WS, Al Habeeb QS. Self-medication needs and practice of community pharmacies in Duhok. Edorium J Public Health 2019;6:100023P16WH2019.
Jadhav S, Nikam K, Gandhi A, Shinde N, Salunkhe K. Applications of Computer Science in Pharmacy: An Overview. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. 2012;2(1):1-9.
Abdlatif AA, Ahmad NA, Bandar FA, Khaled TA, Naif MA, Nasser SA, et al. Mobile phone text messaging for pharmaceutical care in saudi arabia: a pilot study. Int J Pharm. 2013;3(2):312-5.
Saima A, Aisha S, Naveed S, Qamar F, Sarwar H. Use of Computer Software and Databases in Different Fields of Pharmacy: A Meta-Analysis. RADS J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2017;5(2):55-63.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Iraqi Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences ( P-ISSN 1683 - 3597 E-ISSN 2521 - 3512)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
