Providing pharmaceutical care during the COVID-19 pandemic: attitudes and experiences of home-treated patients in Jordan

Mukattash, Tareq L; Jarab, Anan S; Al-Qerem, Walid; Abu Farha, Rana K; Itani, Rania; Karout, Samar; Mukattash, Ibrahim L; Basheti, Iman

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore home-treated COVID-19 patients’ experiences and perceptions of pharmaceutical care services offered during their sickness. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional online questionnaire study, where a 30-item questionnaire was texted via a link to COVID-19 patients who were tested positive previously. A list of anonymised numbers was obtained from different COVID-19 testing centres. The study received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board at the King Abdulla University Hospital/Jordan University of Science and Technology. KEY FINDINGS: A total of 268 patients who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 agreed to participate in this study. Only 22.9% of patients reported taking medications regularly. Almost one-third of respondents (28.7%) indicated that pharmacists were involved in prescribing medicine to patients. Almost half the respondents (49.6%) stated that they or their caregivers obtained information and advice about their medicine from the pharmacists. Only 54.9% of the respondents agreed/strongly agreed that pharmacists have enough scientific information to provide the necessary medical assistance to COVID-19 patients. Patients who work in the medical field, and who always get their medication from the same pharmacy, showed better perception towards pharmaceutical care services that might be provided to COVID-19 patients (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists had an unsatisfactory contribution to the management of the disease in outpatient settings. Moreover, there was a poor perception of the pharmacists’ role including their knowledge, communication skills and counselling skills. Thus, it is essential to improve pharmacists’ knowledge and practices about infectious diseases.