Actual practices of community pharmacists in the management of diabetes: a comparison of simulated patient-based study with perceived role of involvement

ABSTRACT

Objectives:

This study evaluated the level of community pharmacy professionals’ (CPPs) actual practices and contrasted it with their self-reported perceived involvement in diabetes management.

Methods:

A self-reported cross-sectional and simulated patient (SP)-based study were employed at community drug retail outlets (CDROs) in Northwest Ethiopia. SP-case scenarios were used to examine the actual practices of CPPs in diabetes management and were compared with self-reported perceived involvement. The data were managed and analysed using SPSS version 26.

Results:

About 184 participants in the self-reported and 100 CPPs’ actual practices using three SP visits were included. The overall actual practice (17.8%) was found to be significantly different compared with the perceived level of involvement (73.5%) (p-value <0.05). About 94.3% of CPPs dispensed requested medications to the SP without a prescription. Despite most participants being perceived to be involved, more than 76% of CPPs did not counsel the SP for lifestyle modifications, avoiding risky behaviours, adherence to treatment, routine blood glucose checkups, diabetic foot care techniques, or consultation with physicians for further management.

Conclusion:

A significant discrepancy between actual practices and perceived CPPs’ involvement in the management of diabetes was observed. The findings may suggest that exploring possible gaps may be crucial.

KEYWORDS:

• Actual practices
• Community pharmacists
• Diabetes
• Perceived involvement
• Northwest Ethiopia
• Simulated patients

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to forward our gratitude to the data collectors and study participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Research ethics declaration

The study was ethically approved by the research and ethics committee of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Gondar with a reference number of SOP/257/2022, and it was waived by the research and ethics committee to be applied using a simulated patient-based. The confidentiality of the participants was maintained. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations based on Helsinki legislation.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Availability of data and materials

All necessary materials are within the manuscript. The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study is available upon reasonable request.

Authors’ Contributions

AKS contributed to the conception, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, and writing of the original draft of the manuscript. AHT, YBT, ADD, and EAB contributed to the data curation, formal analysis, methodology, and validation, as well as reviewing the final manuscript. All authors approved the final version to be published, agreed on the journal to which the article was submitted, and agreed to be held accountable for all aspects of the work. AKS is the guarantor for this paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.