Abstract
Background
Utilizing community pharmacists (CPs) as immunizers has being adopted in various countries as approach to boost influenza vaccination coverage. Our study aims to explore the Lebanese CPs’ willingness to administer influenza vaccine, and to identify factors associated with this willingness.
Methods
This is a web-based, cross-sectional study, conducted over 2 months, from the 1st of November to the end of December 2020, among Lebanese CPs. An anonymous, questionnaire using google form was sent electronically to pharmacists. The collected data was analyzed using the statistical software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine factors associated with the willingness of CPs to administer influenza vaccine.
Results
A total of 412 CPs participated in this survey of which 76.9% are willing to administer influenza vaccines. More than 90% of them had a good overall knowledge score and 88.8% of CPs showed a positive overall attitude score, particularly towards involvement of CPs in influenza vaccine provision. Their willingness to administer vaccine was positively associated with the younger age (aOR = 3.106 with 95% CI (1.597 to 6.040)), higher education level (aOR = 2.022 with 95% CI (1.093 to 3.741)), previous experience in immunization (aOR = 2.725 with 95% CI (1.320 to 5.627)) and urbanicity of pharmacy (aOR = 1.542 with 95% CI(1.219 to 4.627)). Extensive working hours (aOR = 2.341 with 95% CI (1.131 to 4.845)), working in pharmacies that are operating round-the-clock, showing positive attitude towards immunization (aOR = 3.014 with 95% CI (1.872 to 10.422)) and towards provision of influenza vaccines (aOR = 13.721 with 95% CI (13.721 to 38.507)) were also positively associated to this willingness. Conversely, patient privacy (aOR = 0.553 with 95% CI (0.079 to 0.983)), time and cost for professional development (aOR = 0.551 with 95% CI (0.172 to 0.918)), limited patient’s trust (aOR = 0.339 with 95% CI (0.203 to 0.784)), financial remuneration (aOR = 0.182 with 95% CI (0.088 to 0.377)), and requirement of formal certification in vaccine administration (aOR = 0.182 with 95% CI (0.088 to 0.377)) were negatively associated to this willingness.
Conclusion
Addressing the unearthed concerns related to utilizing CPs as influenza immunizers through a concerted effort is a key to success in any future implementation of vaccination services in pharmacies.
The Pharmacy Student’s Knowledge And Perception About Generic Medicine: Web-based Cross-Sectional Study
