Evaluation of community pharmacists’ knowledge and awareness of food–drug interactions in Palestine

Background Food–drug interactions can produce undesirable outcomes during the therapy process. The pharmacist is responsible for providing patients counseling about common food-drug interactions. Knowledge of such interactions is important to avoid their occurrence. Objective This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of community pharmacists about common food-drug interactions. Setting Pharmacists working in community pharmacies across Northern Palestine. Method This is a cross-sectional study, which involved a convenience sample of 259 pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Palestine. A self-administered questionnaire consisted of 29 questions (mainly yes/no questions) was used to assess pharmacists’ knowledge towards the most common and clinically significant interactions between food and medicines. Main outcome measure Pharmacists’ issues related to the knowledge of food drug interactions were evaluated. Results A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed of which 259 were completed providing a response rate 80.9%. One pharmacist from each community pharmacy was asked to complete the questionnaire. The overall knowledge score of food-drug interactions for the pharmacists was 17.9 (61.7%) out of a possible maximum of 29. The pharmacists surveyed in this study have demonstrated good knowledge of some interactions; but poor knowledge of others. Conclusion Pharmacists’ knowledge about common food–drug interactions is inadequate. These findings support the need for training and educational courses for pharmacists regarding food–drug interactions.