Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Knowledge of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia on the use of topical corticosteroids in atopic dermatitis

Soliman Ayed Alsaiari¹ , Hamad Al Daghreer²

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Najran University, Saudi Arabia; ²Infection Prevention and Control Department, Najran Regional Laboratory, Najran, Saudi Arabia.

For correspondence:- Soliman Alsaiari Email: s-alsaiary2@hotmail.com

Accepted: 7 July 2024 Published: 31 July 2024

Citation: Alsaiari SA, Daghreer HA. Knowledge of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia on the use of topical corticosteroids in atopic dermatitis. Trop J Pharm Res 2024; 23(7):1093-1100 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v23i7.7

© 2024 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate pharmacists’ knowledge and sources of information, as well as identify future interventions concerning the use of topical corticosteroids for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving a survey of pharmacists practicing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from March 2022 to July 2022 using a self-structured questionnaire. Categorical responses were presented in frequency and percentages. Measurement data were presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD), and differences were compared using Pearson chi-square. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A total of 288 pharmacists participated in the survey; out of these, 79 % of pharmacists provided incorrect answers, believing that topical corticosteroids (TCS) are used to cure eczema/dermatitis. Mean score of overall knowledge was 10.13 (2.9) while 54.9 % showed poor knowledge of TCS, and 45.1 % had adequate knowledge. Furthermore, pharmacists who were non-Saudi indigenes, senior pharmacists and those having master's degrees had significantly higher knowledge scores than others.

Conclusion: Knowledge of TCS for treating atopic dermatitis among pharmacists in Saudi Arabia is poor. There is a significant association of knowledge with being a non-Saudi indigene, pharmacist’s rank, qualification, area of practice, and additional training. Promoting continuous education and implementing formal undergraduate training programs would address this knowledge gap and ultimately improve pharmacists' understanding of topical corticosteroid use in atopic dermatitis.

Keywords: Knowledge, Pharmacists, Topical corticosteroids (TCS), Dermatitis