An Assessment of the Knowledge, Perception, and Willingness to Use Telepharmacy Services Among the General Public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

Background and objective

At the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, numerous strategies were introduced by the authorities to contain the spread of the virus, which significantly affected people's lives and impeded their mobility. As the general public was unable to leave their dwellings, many digitalized pharmacist-led services were initiated to meet the public’s needs for pharmaceutical care. The aim of this study was to ascertain the knowledge, perception, and willingness to utilize telepharmacy services and the determinants associated with these services among the general public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Methodology

A cross-sectional survey involving participants recruited from the Saudi general public was conducted by using a validated questionnaire. We collected information regarding participants' demographics, as well as knowledge, perception, and willingness toward telepharmacy. The results were analyzed via descriptive statistics. The Mann-Whitney U Test was applied to assess the associations between knowledge, perception, willingness, and demographic variables regarding the utilization of telepharmacy services.

Results

A total of 273 Saudi citizens participated in the study; 71% (n=193) of them were aware of telepharmacy services. Many respondents showed a positive perception towards telepharmacy services and 83% (n=227) of the total participants showed their willingness to use telepharmacy services in the future. A significant association was identified between education, gender, and the knowledge of the participants regarding telepharmacy services. The demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and education, were not associated with the participants' perception regarding telepharmacy services. However, gender was significantly associated with the willingness to use telepharmacy services in the future.

Conclusions

Many participants had a fair knowledge and positive perception of telepharmacy services. More than two-thirds of the participants showed their willingness to utilize telepharmacy services in the future. However, further measures should be implemented involving strategies to increase the knowledge about telepharmacy by targeting the less educated among the Saudi population and those with limited access to technology.

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Most cited references 29

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The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies.

Erik von Elm, Douglas G. Altman, Matthias Egger … (2008)

Much biomedical research is observational. The reporting of such research is often inadequate, which hampers the assessment of its strengths and weaknesses and of a study's generalisability. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) initiative developed recommendations on what should be included in an accurate and complete report of an observational study. We defined the scope of the recommendations to cover three main study designs: cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies. We convened a 2-day workshop in September, 2004, with methodologists, researchers, and journal editors to draft a checklist of items. This list was subsequently revised during several meetings of the coordinating group and in e-mail discussions with the larger group of STROBE contributors, taking into account empirical evidence and methodological considerations. The workshop and the subsequent iterative process of consultation and revision resulted in a checklist of 22 items (the STROBE statement) that relate to the title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of articles.18 items are common to all three study designs and four are specific for cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional studies.A detailed explanation and elaboration document is published separately and is freely available on the websites of PLoS Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Epidemiology. We hope that the STROBE statement will contribute to improving the quality of reporting of observational studies

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Is Open Access

COVID-19: Emergence, Spread, Possible Treatments, and Global Burden

Raghuvir Keni, Anila Alexander, Pawan Ganesh Nayak … (2020)

The Coronavirus (CoV) is a large family of viruses known to cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory tract infection. The severity of the infection may be visible as pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome, and even death. Until the outbreak of SARS, this group of viruses was greatly overlooked. However, since the SARS and MERS outbreaks, these viruses have been studied in greater detail, propelling the vaccine research. On December 31, 2019, mysterious cases of pneumonia were detected in the city of Wuhan in China's Hubei Province. On January 7, 2020, the causative agent was identified as a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and the disease was later named as COVID-19 by the WHO. The virus spread extensively in the Wuhan region of China and has gained entry to over 210 countries and territories. Though experts suspected that the virus is transmitted from animals to humans, there are mixed reports on the origin of the virus. There are no treatment options available for the virus as such, limited to the use of anti-HIV drugs and/or other antivirals such as Remdesivir and Galidesivir. For the containment of the virus, it is recommended to quarantine the infected and to follow good hygiene practices. The virus has had a significant socio-economic impact globally. Economically, China is likely to experience a greater setback than other countries from the pandemic due to added trade war pressure, which have been discussed in this paper.

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Patients Perceptions of Telemedicine Visits Before and After the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Bree E Holtz (2020)

Purpose: This study sought to determine whether the necessitated use of telemedicine due to coronavirus disease 2019, and limited choice of both the provider and patient, impacts the perceptions of telemedicine by patients who experienced telemedicine prepandemic and those who first experienced telemedicine during the pandemic. Methodology: Participants for this survey were a convenience sample. An invitation to participate was shared through social media and e-mail listservs. To participate, individuals had to be at least 18 years of age and gave consent to their data being used. The online survey took ∼10-15 min to complete, the survey was available from March 31 to April 20, 2020. Results: Two hundred sixty-four (n = 264, 60.8%) individuals had used telemedicine on or before December 2019 and 170 (39.2%) individuals used telemedicine for the first time January 2020 or later. There were no significant differences in demographics between groups, except that new users were more likely to have a primary care physician [F(407) = 13.51, p < 0.001]. Satisfaction of telemedicine was measured using a 10-item scale, demonstrating that all participants were overall satisfied with their telemedicine experience(s), (mean = 1.67, standard deviation = 0.61). Broadly, the differences in perceptions between the groups included the reasons for using telemedicine, perceptions of quality of in-person care, continuity of care, and a technical issue. Conclusions: Overall, patients are satisfied using telemedicine, however, for new users, both providers and patients, some acclimation needs to occur.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Cureus

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Cureus

Journal ID (issn): 2168-8184

Title: Cureus

Publisher: Cureus (Palo Alto (CA) )

ISSN (Electronic): 2168-8184

Publication date (Electronic, pub): 22 November 2022

Publication date (Electronic, collection): November 2022

Volume: 14

Issue: 11

Electronic Location Identifier: e31769

Affiliations

[1 ] Pharmaceutical Care Services, King Saud Medical City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAU

[2 ] College of Pharmacy, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, SAU

Author notes

Rashid H. Alnajrani r9992009@ 123456hotmail.com

Article

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.31769

PMC ID: 9772859

PubMed ID: 36569686

SO-VID: 40adb471-990b-472e-b915-6bccda2293c3

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

An Assessment of the Knowledge, Perception, and Willingness to Use Telepharmacy Services Among the General Public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 29

The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies.

COVID-19: Emergence, Spread, Possible Treatments, and Global Burden

Patients Perceptions of Telemedicine Visits Before and After the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

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