Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among Community Pharmacists in Lahore Regarding Prescription Patterns in Children: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Community pharmacists play a vital role in ensuring that pediatric patients utilize drugs safely and effectively. Pediatric patients require special attention. To identify possible gaps in their knowledge of proper dosage, formulation selection, pharmacists' knowledge, and practices of pediatric prescriptions must be evaluated. These assessments help pharmacists become more competent in handling of pediatric prescriptions, and accurately counselling caretakers. Targeted evaluation can be assessed to ensure pediatric care with lower medication errors in pediatric prescriptions.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of retail pharmacists (KAPs) in Lahore's community pharmacies regarding the prescription patterns of pediatric patients.

Methods: The cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in different community Pharmacies in Lahore, Pakistan. Data was collected on validated questionnaire after getting consent from 133 Pharmacists. 24th Edition of SPSS was used for statistical analysis of the collected data. Pharmacists who refuse to fill the form were excluded from the study.

Results: A total of 133 Pharmacists participated in the current study. A statistically significant association was observed between the pharmacists gender and their level of knowledge regarding prescription pattern in pediatrics with a p-value of <0.001. However, a statistically non-significant association was found between Pharmacists having higher education (MPhil, Ph.D., Graduate) and knowledge about prescription pattern in pediatrics with a p-value of 0.879.

Conclusion: Pharmacist can offer pediatric medication counselling to parents and children who are comfortable with it, even though Childrens are rarely present at pharmacies when prescriptions are taken up. For the purpose of facilitating counselling and educating children about the safe and effective use of medications, pharmacists must create and employ interactive and instructional technologies.