Tiago Oliveira, Ângelo Jesus, João P Martins, Patrícia Correia, Fernando Moreira
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background/objectives: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common cause of vaginitis. Over-the-counter drugs are usually dispensed by pharmacy professionals to treat this condition without prior medical consultation. This study aimed at assessing the knowledge of Portuguese pharmacy professionals regarding VVC.
Methods: An online questionnaire including questions about the symptoms and treatment of VVC was distributed between March and April of 2024.
Results: A total of 376 professionals participated in this study. There was a significantly lower proportion of men (p = 0.007) and pharmacy technicians (p = 0.005) who correctly identified the main causative agent of VVC when compared to women and pharmacists. Only 30% of women correctly identified the number of VVC episodes in the same year they classified as complicated, but this was significantly higher (p = 0.038) than the proportion of men who identified complicated VVC (20%). Topical clotrimazole preparations were the more frequently identified medicines for the treatment of uncomplicated VVC, and fluconazole-containing medicines were the preferred choice for the treatment of complicated VVC.
Conclusions: This study highlights the need to improve education and training for pharmacy professionals. By addressing these knowledge gaps, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can provide more accurate and effective advice to patients.
期刊介绍：
Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal (free for readers), which publishes original theoretical and empirical work in the interdisciplinary area of all aspects of medicine and health care research. Healthcare publishes Original Research Articles, Reviews, Case Reports, Research Notes and Short Communications. We encourage researchers to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. For theoretical papers, full details of proofs must be provided so that the results can be checked; for experimental papers, full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Additionally, electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculations, experimental procedure, etc., can be deposited along with the publication as “Supplementary Material”.
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