TITLE:
The Viewpoint of Community Pharmacists about Their Professional Role in Dispensing Beauty Products: A Study from Western Region of Saudi Arabia
AUTHORS:
Ali Mofleh Alshahrani, Taghreed Mubarak Alotaibi, Nawal Safar Alrabie, Bashayer Mohammed Althobaiti, Fatimah Nasser Alshelawi, Maram Abdullah Althobaiti, Mona Yaser Alsheikh, Ahmed Ibrahim Fathelrahman
KEYWORDS:
Community Pharmacies, Pharmacists, Beauty Products, Cosmetics, Saudi Arabia
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
22,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Community pharmacists play a significant role in dispensing
and counseling about medications and pharmaceuticals including beauty and
cosmetic products. Aims and Objectives: The current study was conducted to
assess the viewpoint of community pharmacists in the Western region of Saudi
Arabia about their professional role in dispensing beauty products. Methods: A
cross-sectional study was conducted between September and December 2019 using
an online questionnaire. Expert professors from college of pharmacy, Taif
University validated the questionnaire. Results: Five hundred seventy-seven
community pharmacists completed the questionnaire. Most of the participants
were male (99%) and aged 23 - 34 years old (71.1%). Slightly less than half
(45.58%) of community pharmacists have 6 - 10 years of experience. Most
pharmacists (96.9%) communicate directly with customers/ patients and most of
them (85.3%) ask and counsel patients about their product. Pharmacists strongly
agreed that pharmacists must keep in developing their communication skills with
customers/patients. Conclusion: Most of the community pharmacists surveyed in
this study reported a good perceived knowledge and attitudes and demonstrated
an acceptable level of practices regarding beauty products. Saudi FDA is
encouraged to adopt Good Pharmacy Practice standards and guidelines to improve
current practice of community pharmacists concerning Beauty Products.