[Management and prevention of cow's milk protein allergy: Contribution of community pharmacists]

Knowledge and Attitude of Community Pharmacists Toward Cow Milk Protein Allergy Complications and Treatment in Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Sudan

Background

Cow's milk protein allergy is the most frequent type of food allergy in newborns and young children. It affects numerous body systems. A community pharmacist possessing adequate knowledge and appropriate practices is crucial for the management of the disease.

Objectives

: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of community pharmacists toward the complications and treatment of cow milk protein allergy.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 332 randomly selected community pharmacists in the Capital of Sudan (Khartoum state). Data were collected using a validated and internally consistent (Cronbach Alpha = 0.712) self-administered questionnaire Descriptive statistics and Chi-square analysis were conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25.

Results

The response rate was 95.8%, and about 47.8% of the population had 1-5 years of experience as community pharmacists, and 37.4% of them had a post-graduate degree. Only 30.8% of respondents had good knowledge, while 40.6% had poor knowledge, and 28.6% had scored as having fair knowledge of complications of Cow's milk protein allergy. Regarding knowledge toward treatment, 65.1% of respondents had a poor knowledge, 24.5% had fair knowledge, and only 10.4% had good knowledge. Overall, 39.62% of participants had a positive attitude, and 60.38% had a negative attitude toward this disease. Data analysis showed no significant association between the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and their knowledge and attitude.

Conclusion

Community pharmacists in Khartoum State had inadequate knowledge and attitude about the complications and treatment of cow milk protein allergy. As a result, we recommend the implementation of strategies to raise pharmacists' knowledge and attitude.

[The role of the community and hospital pharmacist in public health prevention in France]

INTRODUCTION

As the healthcare system changes, the pharmacist's place does. In this context the health institutions are looking for improving prevention and so realize how well-placed pharmacists were. For their competences as well as the trust patients are giving, they are serious actors in the implementation of prevention.

METHODS

We sought to understand which place pharmacists take in prevention policies. Thus, we have proceeded with an analysis of bibliography of the past ten years about articles registered in Medline talking about pharmacist's places in French prevention.

RESULTS

We have selected 47 articles classified according to San Marco's 3 levels of prevention: universal, oriented or targeted prevention. The pharmacist is involved in universal prevention, cancer screening or the proper use of antibiotics. In targeted prevention, they are specifically interested in the proper use of medicines and their correct prescription to patients. Finally, for targeted prevention, they offer patients therapeutic education adapted to their needs.

CONCLUSIONS

We can highlight that pharmacists improve consequently the patient's quality of life. They also enhance connections between health care professionals. Thanks to pharmacists, patients can find easy access and reliable health advice and government, trustworthy support for prevention.

Promoting and achieving excellence in the delivery of Integrated Allergy Care: the European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology competencies for allied health professionals working in allergy

The multi-disciplinary team approach is an effective model for patient care. Allied health professionals (AHPs) are an important part of such teams, bringing specific knowledge and skills related to the target patient population. The AHPs most often involved in allergy care are nurses and dietitians. Nurses are often involved in the care of patients with all types of allergy and also with asthma, whilst allergy-specialist dietitians provide vital nutritional and dietary support for the diagnosis and management of food allergy. There are many other AHPs who have a role to play in allergy care, including physiotherapists, psychologists, pharmacists and speech therapists, and their involvement is likely to develop as allergy care becomes more rooted in the community. With the development of multi-professional teams comes the requirement for disease-specific knowledge and skill sets, with all allergy team members required to have baseline knowledge and competency of the condition being managed. Whilst some competencies for AHPs practising in other disease states have been published, none are available for allergic disease against which AHPs can be benchmarked. The European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (EAACI) recognised this need, and supported the establishment of a Task Force to develop allergy-focussed competencies for AHPs. The varied skills, expertise and professional background of the Task Force members enabled the creation of a set of allergy competencies relevant to all AHPs working in allergy. It is recognised that the training and allergy expertise of AHPs, and their role within the allergy setting, will vary considerably depending on the country. However, it is important for patient care, that all AHP involved in allergy services have access to training, of a sufficiently high enough level to be aspirational and enable the continued growth and development of a wide range of allergy services, given the increasing need. The EAACI competencies will provide an important benchmark for allergy knowledge and skills against which education and training can be designed and health care professionals can subsequently be measured. However, more importantly, the EAACI AHP allergy competencies will enable the development and reach of specialist allergy services, with allergy-specialist AHPs undertaking key roles, especially in the community care setting.