Community Pharmacy Professionals' Knowledge and Counseling Skills for the Treatment of Acute Diarrhea in Children in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: Questionnaire Based and Simulated Client Study

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and counseling skills of community pharmacy professionals regarding managing acute diarrhea in children in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study consisting of a questionnaire and simulated client scenario was conducted to collect data from pharmacy professionals working in community pharmacies over a period of 3 months in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Pharmacy professionals were assessed for evaluating cases using 5 indicators (the age of the child, the frequency of diarrhea, fever and the presence of mucus or blood) and also for their recommendations and counseling.

Results: The data were collected from 60 pharmacy professionals after site visits. In the questionnaire, 60% of the pharmacy professionals used all 5 indicators, while in the simulation, 13.3% used at least 3 indicators and 80% used 2 or fewer indicators (p = 0.35). An oral rehydration solution was recommended alone by 35% of the pharmacy professionals and with other drugs by 13.3% in the questionnaire, while in the simulation, an oral rehydration solution alone was recommended by 15% and other drugs by 48.3%. Approximately 86.7% of the pharmacy professionals did not give any dietary advice, and 50% did not counsel the simulated client on the recommended drug.

Conclusion: The community pharmacy professionals in the study did not ask enough questions to evaluate a child suffering from acute diarrhea appropriately in the simulation. More questions were asked in the questionnaire; however, the difference is not significant. Additionally, they did not provide proper dietary advice, and their recommendation of an oral rehydration solution was insufficient.