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Exploring communication challenges with children and parents among pharmacists in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional
Mustafa A Malki1, Rahaf A Alnemary1, Sarah K Alabbasi1
1From the Department of Pharmaceutical Practices, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia struggle with pediatric communication, often speaking to parents instead of children. Targeted training is crucial to enhance pharmacist-child interactions and improve health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacy Practice
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Communication Skills
Background:
- Effective communication between pharmacists and pediatric patients is vital for medication adherence and health outcomes.
- Challenges in this communication can lead to suboptimal patient care.
- Understanding these challenges in Saudi Arabia is essential for developing targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify communication trends and challenges faced by pharmacists when interacting with pediatric patients in Saudi Arabia.
- To explore factors influencing pharmacists' communication performance with children.
- To assess the gap between pharmacists' self-perceived confidence and actual communication skills.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 170 pharmacists in Saudi Arabia.
- A 38-item questionnaire assessed demographic data, influencing factors, and communication skills with children across 7 domains.
- Statistical analyses included Chi-square tests and logistic regression to determine performance and associated factors.
Main Results:
- A significant majority (76%) of pharmacists exhibited unsatisfactory communication with pediatric patients.
- Most pharmacists (91%) prioritized speaking with parents over directly addressing children, even when children were present.
- Despite high self-reported confidence (88.23%), a substantial proportion (63.52%) demonstrated poor communication performance with children.
Conclusions:
- Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia encounter considerable difficulties in communicating effectively with pediatric patients.
- There is a clear need for specialized training programs to improve pharmacists' communication abilities with children.
- Enhancing these skills is expected to positively impact medication adherence and overall pediatric health outcomes.
Objectives:
To identify trends and challenges in pharmacists' communication with pediatric patients in Saudi Arabia. It also studies the potential factors affecting their overall performance.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey of 170 pharmacists working in different healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia was carried out. A novel comprehensive 38-item survey questionnaire was utilized. The questionnaire comprised 2 main sections: demographic data and potential influencing factors and communication skills with children. The communication domain assessed the degree to which the pharmacist could communicate with a child in 7 main areas. Comparisons of communication performance were carried out by Chi-square tests, and associations with 24 factors were determined by logistic regression analyses.
Results:
Approximately 76% of pharmacists demonstrated unsatisfactory communication with children (p=8.47×10-10). Approximately 91% of pharmacists depended on speaking to parents rather than directly talking to children, even when present (p=7.791×10-26). In addition, although 88.23% of pharmacists expressed high confidence in their communication skills (p=9.899×10-24), their actual performance with children in different age groups showed that 63.52% performed poorly, while only 36.46% demonstrated good performance (p=4.2×10-4). Factors which might be associated with pharmacists' performance were identified.
Conclusion:
Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia face significant challenges in communicating with pediatric patients. Targeted training is needed to improve communication skills, medication adherence, and children's health outcomes.
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