Evaluation of antibiotic supply decisions by community pharmacists in Thailand: a vignette study

Donsamak, Sisira, Weiss, Marjorie C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8065-4108 and John, Dai N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4721-6170 2021. Evaluation of antibiotic supply decisions by community pharmacists in Thailand: a vignette study. Antibiotics 10 (2) , 154. 10.3390/antibiotics10020154

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (280kB) | Preview

Abstract

In Thailand, antibiotics are available lawfully from community pharmacies without a prescription. Inappropriate supply of antibiotics from Thai community pharmacies to the public for common, self-limiting diseases has been reported. The study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of antibiotics selected by community pharmacists in Thailand in response to vignettes. A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists across Thailand was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire including nine case vignettes with three conditions, namely upper respiratory infections (URIs), acute diarrhoea and simple wounds. A total of 208 questionnaires were completed and analysed (20.8% response rate). In response to vignettes relating to URIs, 50.8% of pharmacist recommendations were not in accordance with antibiotic guidelines. Inappropriate recommendations for diarrhoea and wound cases were 20.8% and 16.7%, respectively. A higher proportion of younger pharmacists, those with less experience, Pharm. D. graduate pharmacists, employee pharmacists and those pharmacists who worked in a chain pharmacy were more likely to recommend appropriate antibiotic treatment in response to the vignettes (p < 0.05). These findings will be useful to promote educational interventions for community pharmacists regarding common infectious disease management in order to improve appropriate antibiotic use.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Pharmacy
Additional Information:	This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2079-6382
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 February 2021
Date of Acceptance:	28 January 2021
Last Modified:	03 May 2023 16:28
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/138319

Citation Data

Cited 2 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item