Patient perspectives on online medication information seeking in Uganda: a cross-sectional exploration
This study explores pharmacists’ experiences and attitudes towards online medical information shared with them by their patients. A self-administered online survey questionnaire was designed and administered to 113 pharmacists within Kampala metropolitan, Uganda. The survey results highlight gr...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Proceeding Paper |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
IEEE
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/109237/1/109237_Patient%20perspectives%20on%20online%20medication.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/109237/3/109237_Patient%20perspectives%20on%20online%20medication_SCOPUS.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/109237/ https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10346437 |
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| Summary: | This study explores pharmacists’ experiences
and attitudes towards online medical information shared with
them by their patients. A self-administered online survey
questionnaire was designed and administered to 113
pharmacists within Kampala metropolitan, Uganda. The
survey results highlight growth in patients’ inquiries about
online acquired medication-related information from their
pharmacists (n=105, 93%). Pharmacists highlighted that this
online information-seeking behaviour enhances patients’
understanding of treatment. While generally, pharmacists in
Uganda hold a positive attitude towards this trend, they,
however, raised some concerns over the inaccuracy of online
medication-related information presented to them by their
patients 66 (58%), the internet promotion of unnecessary fear
and worry about medication n=96 (92%), and the tendency for
patients to take up more of the pharmacists’ time during their
visits (n=68, 60%). Finally, this study revealed that pharmacist
gender (r=0.722, t=9.078, p=0.000) and pharmacy ownership
status (r=0.504, t=4.107, p=0.000) had a statistically significant
relationship with pharmacists’ attitude towards patients’
acquisition of online medication-related information.
Conclusively, this study shows that pharmacists in Kampala
(Uganda) have a generally positive view of the online
medication-related information-seeking by patients. This result suggests that technology use, specifically the Internet, in addressing healthcare needs is embraced in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Therefore, this research contributes to the literature
exploring online perceptions and attitudes towards medication related information-seeking among pharmacists. |
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