Assessment of Community Pharmacy Practices and Associated Problems in Arada Sub City Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: The public can reach pharmacists the easiest of all healthcare practitioners. Controlling, distributing, and dispensing medications fall under the purview of the community pharmacist. To guarantee the accurate and secure distribution of medicinal items to the general population, they adhere to legal and ethical standards. By offering guidance and knowledge as well as prescribed medications, they help maintain and enhance people's health. The usage of medications and medical devices is explained to patients by community pharmacists, who also offer over-the-counter medical supplies. Some pharmacists also organize stop-smoking clinics and weight-loss programs and provide specialized health exams including blood pressure monitoring and diabetes screening.

Objective:- To evaluate the community pharmacy in the Arada sub-city of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, in terms of knowledge, current pharmaceutical practices, and related issues.

Method: From October to March of 2021 to 2022, a cross-sectional study employing a semi-structured and structured questionnaire with the inclusion of all dispensers in drug retail shops was carried out at all drug retail outlets discovered in the Arada sub-city of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Tables, graphs, and charts were used to process, analyze, interpret, and present the data that had been collected.

Results: Nearly 80% of the respondents who worked in drug stores have come across various kinds of prescription mistakes. The majority of those who had experienced prescription errors (82%) had encountered incomplete prescriptions, followed by (72%) those who had had prescriptions with unreadable handwriting. Nearly all of the responders in the pharmacy retail establishments visited practiced labeling using various labeling techniques. The mostly written information when labeling drugs were doses of drugs, frequency, duration and route of administration of prescribed drugs. About 55% drug retail outlets collaborated with other professions or with other health institution when incomplete and illegible prescription occurs.

Conclusion and recommendation: The majority have come across illegible prescriptions first, then incomplete prescriptions. The dosages, frequency, duration, and method of administration of prescription medications were the information that was most frequently written on labels. To decrease prescription-related errors, ongoing professional development training on the proper prescribing pattern should be provided. It should also raise awareness of the risk associated with wrong prescription.