Abstract:
Unwanted teen pregnancy is a serious social problem in Malaysia. Community pharmacists may play a vital role in advising teenagers on contraception. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of emergency contraception (EC) among teenagers among Malaysian community pharmacists.
Methods
A 33-item survey was conducted using Google form on fully or provisionally registered community pharmacists throughout Malaysia. The demographic, educational and professional characteristics of these pharmacist were recorded, and the scores of the various study components of the questionnaire between different groups were compared.
Results
A total of 311 community pharmacists completed the survey, and the response rate was 61% (311/510). In our survey, 90% of participants rated themselves to have good EC knowledge, however, only 66% of respondents showed having adequate EC knowledge in answering the knowledge questions. The two main barriers for EC supply are the concerns about safety or efficacy of EC and the possibility of discouraging regular oral contraceptives. Those aged above 30 years, male sex, owners of a community pharmacy, longer working experience, and members of a pharmacy professional organization have a significantly higher knowledge score than those who were not. There was no significant differences in knowledge scores and attitude scores between fully registered pharmacists and provisionally registered pharmacists. But statistically significant difference in the perceived barriers was noted between these two groups.
Conclusion
The present study shows that community pharmacists in Malaysia generally lack in knowledge of EC. Efforts should be directed at promoting knowledge in EC among community pharmacists through ongoing professional development or training courses and ongoing education programmes so that they are more prepared to advice customers especially teenagers on EC.
Keywords: emergency contraceptive, teenagers, knowledge, attitude, barriers, unwanted teenage pregnancy, morning after pills
