A study of public knowledge and pharmacists perceptions of their roles in prevention of COVID-19

The objective was to assess the public knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 and the role of pharmacists in the prevention of COVID-19 This was a cross-sectional, web-based study conducted between 1 February to 30 March, 2020 Two instruments were used;1) a 16-items validated questionnaire for the public;2) an open-ended interview questions for pharmacists A descriptive as well as inferential statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire data and a qualitative analysis was used to analyse the open-ended interview questions A total of 73 general public residing in 7 countries (Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, UK, Egypt, Eritrea and Germany) participated in the study The study participnats showed moderate knowledge about COVID-19 (18 9 ± 2 2) There were no differences in the level of knowledge between the general public and those with medical background (p > 0 05) There was an association between female sex and a better attitudes about COVID19 as shown by the association of female sex with washing their hands (p = 0 049, Pearson coefficient = 4 9), and avoidance of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic (p = 0 045, Pearson coefficient=4 8) On the other hand, 39 pharmacists from different countries participated in the study The majority of the pharmacists were from Saudi Arabia (30%), India (15 3%) and Sudan (10 3%) Pharmacists believed that they have important roles in educating the public about clinical fea-tures of COVID-19 and its transmission Pharmacists also indicated that they can provide support by re-porting new cases and supplying pharmaceutical products while couseling patients about their use The general public had a moderate knowledge about COVID-19 Pharmacists were aware about their role con-cerning public education and support to prevent COVID-19 © 2021, Colegio de Farmaceuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires All rights reserved