Assessing Arizona Pharmacists’ Knowledge of and Confidence with Photosensitizing Drugs

Abstract

Specific Aims: To assess Arizona pharmacists’ knowledge of and confidence with identifying and counseling about photosensitizing drugs to determine the need for further education in this subject area.

Methods: A voluntary anonymous questionnaire was administered in person at the 2018 Arizona Pharmacy Association Annual Convention. Sixty of the 136 Arizona licensed pharmacists in attendance completed the questionnaire consisting of opinion, knowledge, and demographic sections. A passing grade for the knowledge section was defined as eighty percent accuracy. A score of eighty percent was chosen as the minimum passing rate based on conventionally used rules of competence. T-tests and chi-square tests were used to analyze any differences between the pass and fail groups.

Main Results: There was no difference between pass and fail groups with regard to age, gender, years practicing, years spent in Arizona, and practice setting (p greater than 0.05) or with regard to their confidence with counseling about photosensitizing drugs (p greater than 0.05). Pharmacists reported feeling “mostly confident” about identifying photosensitizing drugs (n equals 33), with a range of “not at all” (n equals 2) to “very” (n equals 11) confident. Only 19 (32 percent) of the 60 pharmacists who completed the survey passed the knowledge section with a score of eighty percent or greater.

Conclusions: Twice as many pharmacists did not achieve a passing score for the knowledge assessment despite most pharmacists reporting they feel “mostly confident” counseling about photosensitizing drugs. These results demonstrate a need for more education either in college curriculums or continuing education regarding photosensitizing drugs and reactions.