Students:
Hend I’mar
Ruba Samara
Raghad Jaradat
Mais Amin
Ahmad Alqasem
Supervisor:
Dr. Naser Y. Shraim
Abstract:
Background and Objectives:
Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) in several countries has become a common practice among women of reproductive age. Besides, OCPs are considered as the major reversible contraceptive method with unintended pregnancy. This study was aimed to investigate community pharmacists' knowledge on OCPs in Palestine.
Methods:
Self-administered questionnaire was used to carry out the objectives of this study. The questionnaire was distributed in north part of the West Bank, North Palestine among 214 community pharmacists. It comprised of 2 sections: demographic factors, pharmacists practice, knowledge. The collected data from the returned questionnaire were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program (SPSS) version16.
Results:
A total of 214 community pharmacists were surveyed. Out of the 214, 118 (55.1%) of the participants were males and the rest were females. About 40% of the participants were between 26 to 30 years old. The average knowledge score of the participant pharmacists toward OCPs was 18.38 out of 30 with a median of 19 (inter quartile range: 15.00 -21.00). Socio-demographic variation among pharmacists has not showed any significant effect on knowledge score. However, years of experience revealed a positive effect on general knowledge about OCPs.
Conclusion:
Overall, the study has assessed community Pharmacists’ Knowledge toward OCPs in Palestine. Our data revealed that their knowledge score was relatively fair and this necessitates regulatory bodies to pay more attention to OCPs education for pharmacy students and to hold educational and training campaign to improve pharmacists’ knowledge regarding OCPs.
Key Words: OCP, Pharmacists, Knowledge, Contraindication, Side effect, Palestine.
