Abstract
Objectives:
To identify the predicting factors that contribute to preparedness for public health emergencies among community pharmacists in India.
Methods:
Multistage cluster sampling was done. The geographic breakdown was done based on villages and areas and used as clusters. A simple random method was done in the first stage to select the villages as clusters. From each selected village, a simple random method was done in the second stage to select the areas. From each selected area, all the community pharmacies were selected. The survey questionnaire had 3 sections with 43 items: (A) demographic information, (B) preparedness, (C) response toward infectious diseases. The participants chose “Yes/No”, in sections B and C. A score of 1 was given for “Yes”, and a score of zero was given for “No”.
Results:
Multiple correlation analyses were conducted between participants’ preparedness and response (PR) scores and independent variables. The independent variables such as “More than one Pharmacist working in a pharmacy”, “Pharmacists who are trained more than once on disaster management”, and encountered more than 1 patient with the infectious disease were positively and significantly correlated with the dependent variable (PR scores).
Conclusions:
Community pharmacists were aware of the issues they may face in their community concerning public health emergencies. They believed that the medications available in their pharmacy are sufficient to face any emergency. They could identify the clinical manifestations of public health emergency conditions and provide counselling to the customers toward them. Community pharmacists who were trained more than once in disaster management were the strongest predicting factor.
To identify the predicting factors that contribute to preparedness for public health emergencies among community pharmacists in India.
Methods:
Multistage cluster sampling was done. The geographic breakdown was done based on villages and areas and used as clusters. A simple random method was done in the first stage to select the villages as clusters. From each selected village, a simple random method was done in the second stage to select the areas. From each selected area, all the community pharmacies were selected. The survey questionnaire had 3 sections with 43 items: (A) demographic information, (B) preparedness, (C) response toward infectious diseases. The participants chose “Yes/No”, in sections B and C. A score of 1 was given for “Yes”, and a score of zero was given for “No”.
Results:
Multiple correlation analyses were conducted between participants’ preparedness and response (PR) scores and independent variables. The independent variables such as “More than one Pharmacist working in a pharmacy”, “Pharmacists who are trained more than once on disaster management”, and encountered more than 1 patient with the infectious disease were positively and significantly correlated with the dependent variable (PR scores).
Conclusions:
Community pharmacists were aware of the issues they may face in their community concerning public health emergencies. They believed that the medications available in their pharmacy are sufficient to face any emergency. They could identify the clinical manifestations of public health emergency conditions and provide counselling to the customers toward them. Community pharmacists who were trained more than once in disaster management were the strongest predicting factor.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e515 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-7 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Disaster medicine and public health preparedness |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 20 Oct 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published online - 20 Oct 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by Sri Adichunchanagiri College of Pharmacy, India. All the authors acknowledge Karnataka Registered Pharmacists Association for its help in this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health.
Keywords
- emergency preparedness
- public health emergencies
- community pharmacist
- workforce
- disaster management
