Highlighting the pivotal role of the pharmacist in influencing health behaviours during emergency crisis: A lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic

Katia Iskandar, Souheil Hallit, Chadia Haddad, Irfan Mohammed, Feten Fekihromdhane, Rawshan Jabeen, Michelle Cherfane, Elise Makhoul, Marwan Akel, Sarah El Khatib, Rohul Amin, Anna Brytek-Matera, Nebojša Pavlović, Rula Darwish, Mainul Haque, Jayaseelan Murugaiyan, Shadrach Chinecherem Eze, Randa Choueiry, Kenneth Egwu, Nagham KhanaferMagdalena Mróz, Vijaya Pavani Molli, Tamires Furtado Rockenbach, Joanna Sitarska, Ana Tomas, Pascale Salameh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background: The contribution of the pharmacist in influencing health behaviours and raising awareness of the impact of self-medication (SM) is valuable. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SM was triggered by multiple factors driven by the fear of becoming infected. This study aimed to identify the determinants of SM during the outbreak, with a focus on the role of social media, and to determine areas where the active contribution of the pharmacist needs strengthening. Methods: A pilot cross-sectional study using snowball sampling was conducted in thirteen countries. Results: A total of 2369 participants with a mean age of 30.62±11.57 years were enrolled in the study. The determinants of SM were 1) sociodemographic characteristics, including developing countries (ORa= 0.670; 95%CI [0.49, 0.91]); 2) communication channels, where Facebook was the most used social media platform (ORa=1.624; 95%CI [1.29, 2.05]); and 3) content and sources of unverified information, i.e. television interviews (ORa=1.357; 95%CI [1.03, 1.78]) and videos with someone confirming the effectiveness of medication used (ORa=1.353; 95%CI [1.06, 1.73]). The perceived risk severity was associated with elderly polypharmacy (ORa= 2.468; 95%CI [1.87, 3.26]). Conclusion: The pharmacist should collaboratively and actively contribute to the design and implementation of health promotion programmes and convert to positive the influence of social media.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)676-692
Number of pages17
JournalPharmacy Education
Volume23
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Jan 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Health behaviour
  • Pharmacist
  • Self-medication
  • Social media

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