@article {46, title = {A Cross Sectional Assessment of Hospital Pharmacist{\textquoteright}s Perception towards Online Health Information in Quetta, Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {January 2021}, pages = {64-68}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {64}, abstract = {

Objectives: The current study aims to assess the perception towards use of online health-related information among hospital pharmacists practicing at public healthcare institutes of Quetta city, Pakistan. Methods: This was a questionnaire based cross sectional survey. Sampling frame of this study was all hospital pharmacists practicing at public hospitals of Quetta city, Pakistan. The data instrument consisted of three sections namely perception towards online health-related information, type of online health-related information used and barriers encountered while retrieving online health-related information. The data was coded and transferred to Statistical Package for Social Science v 20.0 and whereas both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data elaboration. Results: Out of 116 hospital pharmacists, eight one responded with a response rate of 69.8\%. Majority (86.4\%) of the respondents agreed that the Internet provides useful and updated health-related information. Nearly 70\% of the respondents were also of the opinion that it is their practice to visit an established website. The most sought out information was about drugs followed by general healthcare and disease-related information (92.5\%, 74.0\% and 61.7\% respectively). The main barrier (40, 49.3\%) was profusion of health-related information that at times becomes a barrier in obtaining the right information retrieve to scan through from the Internet. Statistical significant differences (p\<0.05) were reported among educational status and certain items of the questionnaire whereby postgraduate pharmacists were more in agreement to the statements. Conclusion: It is evident that our respondents are connected to Internet for professional usage and integrate Internet as an adjunct support in their practice. However, certain barriers and limitations were also indentified. For an effective usage of internet based learning, the barriers need to be addressed and facilities should be provided to the hospital pharmacists so that they can utilize an important source of information during their professional practice.

}, keywords = {Hospital pharmacists, Online Health Information, Perception}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.4.18}, author = {Azfar Akram and Qaiser Iqbal and Sajjad Haider and Rabia Ishaq and Fahad Saleem} } @article {25, title = {Public{\textquoteright} Perception, Awareness, Expectations and Experiences towards the Role of Community Pharmacists in Quetta City, Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {April 2020}, pages = {05-09}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {05}, abstract = {

Aim: The study is aimed to assess public perception, awareness, expectations and experiences towards the role of community pharmacists (CPs) in Quetta City, Pakistan. Methods: This was a questionnairebased, cross-sectional survey. Keeping the aim of the study in mind, a questionnaire was developed by the research team through mutual consensus, experience sharing and extensive literature review. By using an online calculator, 423 respondents were approached conveniently for the data collection. The SPSS v.20.0 was used for data coding and analysis. Based on the objectives of the study, descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 30.61{\textpm}9.95 and males dominated the group (318, 75.2\%). Eighty-one percent of the respondents agreed that CPs provide consultation on how medicine works, identify and prevent errors and are good in explaining things to their level of understanding. Nearly 70\% of the respondents expected CPs to take personal responsibility for resolving drug-related problems, to educate them about the appropriate use of medicines and to monitor the response of drug therapy. All respondents were positive when they were asked about their expectations from the CPs. Respondents agreed that CPs are a reliable source of drug information and are important healthcare professionals (80.4 and 77.3\% respectively). Counseling was endorsed by 60\% of the respondents while CPs were held responsible for resolving drug problems. Conclusion: Although the study findings revealed certain limitations, study respondents had positive attitudes, experiences and constructive expectations towards CPs. The findings also indicated consumer preferences for the evolution of community pharmacist professional services in Pakistan.

}, keywords = {Awareness, Community pharmacist Quetta city, Expectations, Experiences, Pakistan, Public{\textquoteright} perception}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.1.3}, author = {Kashif Kamran and Qaiser Iqbal and Sajjad Haider and Muhammad Anwar and Rabia Ishaq and Fahad Saleem} }