Knowledge and practice of community pharmacists toward dispensing of cough medications for children Khartoum State: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Cough is one of the common symptoms that alert patients to seek medical attention from physicians, which may lead to an increase in the cost of health-care services. The pharmacist is one of the medical professionals to whom parents can go for consultation and request cough medications for their children. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of community pharmacists toward dispensing of cough medication for children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 325 community pharmacists using a pretested, standardized questionnaire. A stratified random sampling method was used to select the participants. The knowledge and practice were assessed, and then the associations between knowledge and practice with different demographic variables were assessed using Chi-square test and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. RESULTS: Of 325 participants, the majority of them were females (74.2%) with B. Pharm (73.5%) and experienced <5 years (68.6%). About 53.8% of pharmacists were showed to have moderate knowledge, whereas 35.7% and 10.5% of them had a high and low level of knowledge, respectively. Regarding practice, 56.6% was found to show a fair level of practice, whereas 11.4% and 32% showed a good and poor level of practice, respectively. The majority of pharmacists still dispense cough medications for children <2 years despite the lack of efficacy and safety. Antibiotics were dispensed by pharmacists to children with cough without prescription, in the presence of fever and cough for a long period. CONCLUSION: More than half of the participants showed moderate knowledge and practice toward dispensing of cough medication in children, no significant association between knowledge and demographic variables, but practice showed a significant association with participants' qualifications.