Relationship between performance barriers and pharmacist competency towards the implementation of an expanded public health pharmacy role.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between performance barriers and competency, and implementation of an expanded public health role for community pharmacists. METHODS: A validated questionnaire was utilised for this study whereby three variables of the study (performance barriers, competency and public health role) were measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Three hundred questionnaires were distributed to target respondents of registered community pharmacies in five states (Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak and Penang) in Malaysia. The data were analysed utilising the principles of structural equation modelling. KEY FINDINGS: There were 191 completed and usable responses received, which represented a 66.7% response rate. This study showed perceived competency had a direct relationship with delivering a general public health role. A perceived lack of competency was shown to be a barrier to fulfilling a public health role. However, other factors, such as design of premises, IT infrastructure and pay, were not viewed as barriers to carrying out a public health role. CONCLUSION: Perceived competency is an obstacle for community pharmacists to undertake a public health role in Malaysia. Adequate training programmes in pharmaceutical public health have to be put in place to address this concern and this should therefore be a priority

Pattern of antidepressant utilization at a tertiary hospital in Malaysia (2009-2011)

The specific goals of this study are to determine trends in the usage and comparison of clinical patterns of antidepressant treatment modality in a tertiary hospital between year 2009-2011. We retrospectively reviewed prescription records in the Outpatient Pharmacy Department (OPD) of a tertiary hospital in central Malaysia from 2009 to 2011.About 3000 prescriptions, containing at least one anti-depressant drug, were systematically sampled and evaluated. Malay patients had a decreasing trend of 3% in anti-depressant usage over the study.Escitaloprom (SSRI) group was found to be the most widely utilized antidepressant with a steady increase of 9% while usage of Fluvoxamine was found to show a decreasing trend over the three years.The overall pattern profoundly favoured monotherapy modality rather than combination therapy among practitioners.This study also found an increasing pattern in the use of antidepressants with antianxiety and antipsychotic.In general, this study has contributed additional information regarding the prescribing pattern of anti-depressants in Malaysia at the current moment