A study of public knowledge and pharmacists perceptions of their roles in prevention of COVID-19

The objective was to assess the public knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 and the role of pharmacists in the prevention of COVID-19. This was a cross-sectional, web-based study conducted between 1 February to 30 March, 2020. Two instruments were used; 1) a 16-items validated questionnaire for the public; 2) an open-ended interview questions for pharmacists. A descriptive as well as inferential statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire data and a qualitative analysis was used to analyse the open-ended interview questions. A total of 73 general public residing in 7 countries (Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, UK, Egypt, Eritrea and Germany) participated in the study. The study participnats showed moderate knowledge about COVID-19 (18.9 ± 2.2). There were no differences in the level of knowledge between the general public and those with medical background (p > 0.05). There was an association between female sex and a better attitudes about COVID19 as shown by the association of female sex with washing their hands (p = 0.049, Pearson coefficient = 4.9), and avoidance of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic (p = 0.045, Pearson coefficient=4.8). On the other hand, 39 pharmacists from different countries participated in the study. The majority of the pharmacists were from Saudi Arabia (30%), India (15.3%) and Sudan (10.3%). Pharmacists believed that they have important roles in educating the public about clinical fea-tures of COVID-19 and its transmission. Pharmacists also indicated that they can provide support by re-porting new cases and supplying pharmaceutical products while couseling patients about their use. The general public had a moderate knowledge about COVID-19. Pharmacists were aware about their role con-cerning public education and support to prevent COVID-19.