Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists regarding red eye management in Jordan: a...

To assess community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and practices regarding red eye management in Jordan.

A cross-sectional survey of 430 community pharmacists was conducted in northern and central regions of Jordan between July and October 2025. A questionnaire assessed knowledge (nine items scored 0-9, categorized: low <6, moderate 6-7, high ≥8 per modified Bloom's taxonomy), attitudes and confidence (five-point Likert scales), and practices (single and multiple-response items reported as frequencies).

Mean knowledge score was 6.67 ± 1.38 out of 9; 53.3% of pharmacists demonstrated high knowledge, 44.2% moderate, and 2.6% low. Pharmacists demonstrated good knowledge of red eye aetiology, red-flag symptoms, and medication safety, but lower performance in complex items requiring comprehensive clinical judgement. Attitudes were generally cautious and safety-oriented, with most pharmacists endorsing red-flag recognition (84.6%), acknowledging that improper red eye management may cause serious complications (91.6%), and supporting prescription-only corticosteroid dispensing (70.5%). Confidence ranged from 93.2% for patient education on eye-drop use to 47.0% for distinguishing conjunctivitis subtypes. Practice patterns were generally appropriate; however, a subset of participants recommended antibiotic and steroid-containing preparations, raising medication-safety concerns. Higher knowledge was significantly associated with more frequent referral behaviour (P = .001), greater opposition to non-prescription corticosteroid dispensing (P = .026), > 5 years of experience (P = .015), and geographic location (P = .010).

Jordanian community pharmacists demonstrated generally good knowledge and referral awareness regarding red eye. Gaps in advanced knowledge and certain medication safety practices highlight the need for targeted training, stronger ophthalmic medication dispensing regulation, and structured continuing professional development.