1. UKM Learning and Research Repository
2. PHD Thesis / Tesis PHD
3. Faculty of Pharmacy / Fakulti Farmasi

Title:	Potential roles of community pharmacists in the management of overweight and obesity in Malaysia
Supervisor:	Thomas Paraidathathu, Prof. Emeritus
Keywords:	Overweight Obesity Pharmacists
Issue Date:	6-Nov-2020
Description:	It has been shown that the involvement of community pharmacists (CPs) is associated with successful delivery of weight management services (WMS) in developed countries. However, in developing countries such as Malaysia, little is known about the role of CPs in the broader context of the healthcare system. At present, research on extended pharmacy services, including WMS, provided by CPs in Malaysia remains scant. To effectively develop and implement strategies to enhance the role of CPs in Malaysia, it is important that the role of CPs is explored. The overall aim of the research was to investigate current and potential roles and practices of CPs in the delivery of WMS in Malaysia. Specifically, this research aimed to evaluate the attitudes, practices, and barriers of Malaysian CPs toward provision of WMS, perceptions of the Malaysian general public and CPs on community pharmacy-based WMS, and impact of an educational training programme on knowledge, attitude and perceived barriers of CPs towards WMS. Two quantitative studies were conducted, with each study involving a cross-sectional survey among 550 CPs and 730 respondents from the general public respectively. In addition, an intervention study to assess the impact of an educational training programme on weight management was performed on a cohort of 30 CPs. Further, a qualitative study involving interviews with a purposive sample of 24 CPs was conducted to explore their views on weight management and WMS. Based on the findings from the first quantitative study, Malaysian CPs generally had a positive perception toward WMS and perceived themselves to be well-prepared for the delivery of WMS. The most common barriers noted by CPs were a lack of staff to provide WMS and ethical and legal issues related to sales of products/drugs used in obesity management. A few practice and sociodemographic characteristics such as age group, type of pharmacy, highest education qualification, and employment status of CPs were found to influence the attitudes, practices and barriers associated with WMS. Findings from the second quantitative study demonstrated that the majority of the general public were in support of community pharmacy-based WMS; however only a low percentage reported utilizing these services. Factors influencing acceptability of services included payment, waiting time and the issue of privacy. Results from the intervention study showed that the educational intervention programme improved the knowledge of CPs regarding various aspects of weight management. It was also encouraging to observe that the participants portrayed more enthusiasm in the provision of WMS after the intervention, in which they had significantly stronger perceptions about the importance of obesity screening services in the pharmacy. These positive attitudes were found to be retained 30 days after the intervention during their actual practice. Qualitative study findings showed that the CPs have good understanding on obesity management and they were positive towards providing WMS. CPs emphasised the importance of monitoring and follow-up in weight management and a multidisciplinary approach for effective management of obesity issues in Malaysia. The outcomes of this study showed that improving the awareness among the public on current WMS available in community pharmacies, changing the CPs' attitudes, practices and barriers and training of CPs on obese patient management could improve the delivery of WMS in Malaysia.,Doctor Of Philosophy
Pages:	260
Call Number:	9 Tesis QV21.V522p 2020
Publisher:	UKM, Kuala Lumpur
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Pharmacy / Fakulti Farmasi

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