Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Community Pharmacists Toward Celiac Disease

Abstract

Objective: The knowledge and attitude of pharmacists play an essential role in the patient counseling services of pharmacists. Celiac disease is one of the diseases in which patient follow-up and counseling are essential, and the number of studies dealing with the roles of pharmacists in this disease is very limited. This study aims to fill this gap and contribute to public health by evaluating community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices for celiac disease. Material and Method: Based on the literature, a measurement tool including the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists for celiac disease has been developed. The measurement tool was applied online to community pharmacists in Törkiye in 2021. The obtained data were subjected to explanatory factor analysis (EFA). Result and Discussion: The number of pharmacists participating in this study is 408. A four-factor structure was obtained: knowledge of celiac disease, attitude towards celiac disease, counseling practices for celiac patients, and professional development practices. The Cronbach's alpha values of the factors were calculated between 0.794 and 0.935, which shows high reliability. These factors explained 70.343% of the total variance. The community pharmacists had positive attitudes toward counseling for celiac disease. Still, there were some deficiencies in terms of knowledge and practice. It is thought that the knowledge and awareness of pharmacists on celiac diseases can be increased by including issues related to celiac disease in both undergraduate education and vocational training programs. © 2023 University of Ankara. All rights reserved.