Community pharmacists' knowledge, perceptions, and practices about topical corticosteroid counseling: A real-world cross-sectional survey and focus group discussions in Korea

PLoS One. 2020 Jul 29;15(7):e0236797. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236797. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Topical corticosteroids (TCs) are widely used to treat dermatological conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. It can be a safe and effective treatment when used appropriately. However, misguided information and corticosteroid phobia appear to contribute to inadequate adherence to therapy, leading to unsatisfactory treatment outcomes. Therefore, community pharmacists (CPs) are in a prime position to inform patients about the appropriate use of medicine. The aim of this study was to examine how the knowledge and perceptions of CPs, as well as other factors, associate CPs' patient counseling practice around the use of TCs. A structured, validated questionnaire was distributed to CPs in the Republic of Korea, and additional focus group discussions were implemented to obtain a deeper understanding of the survey findings. We analyzed the survey results by applying a modified knowledge-perception-practice model. In addition, we used path analysis to validate the model and assessed how knowledge level and perceptions of barriers affect CPs' counseling behavior. We ran a multiple regression to identify factors that associate CPs' practice levels. A total of 1018 surveys were analyzed. In general, respondents had sufficient knowledge to provide appropriate patient counseling on TC use. An increase in knowledge level positively associated the quality of practice, and more knowledge increased the perception of barriers that negatively associated patient counseling. Location in rural areas and pharmacists' perception of counseling barriers negatively associated the quality of practice. A higher level of knowledge, training in ADEs, higher proportion of OTC TC sales, and increased time for counseling positively associated the quality of practice. Therefore, minimizing barriers such as negative perceptions is very important in facilitating CPs' counseling practice around TC use.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Topical
  • Adrenal Cortex Hormones / administration & dosage*
  • Adult
  • Community Pharmacy Services / statistics & numerical data
  • Counseling / statistics & numerical data*
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Focus Groups*
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Statistical
  • Patient Safety
  • Perception*
  • Pharmacists / psychology
  • Pharmacists / statistics & numerical data*
  • Republic of Korea
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*

Substances

  • Adrenal Cortex Hormones

Grants and funding

This research was supported by a grant (14172MFDS159) from Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2019R1A6A1A03031807). The funders (including MFDS and Ministry of Education) provided support in the expenses related to research progress, but the funding organizations did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of our authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. The author Nam Gyu Kim's current affiliation is Wellmarker Bio Co, but they were not affiliated with that company during their involvement in this study, and Wellmarker Bio Co had no part in the research presented here