Assessment of Knowledge and Competencies of Community Pharmacists for Differentiated HIV Care and Services in Jos, Nigeria

Background: Knowledge and competence of community pharmacists in HIV care, are essential for translating the goals of differentiated care into improved outcomes.

Aims: To assess the knowledge and competence of community pharmacists in Jos, for differentiated HIV care and services.

Study Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Place and Duration of Study: Community pharmacies in Jos North and Jos South local government areas of Plateau state, North-Central Nigeria, between September to November, 2018.

Methodology: We included community pharmacists who responded to six items on knowledge of HIV therapeutics with each correct answer recording a score of 1 and zero for wrong answers. Respondents with a correct score of 5 or 6 represent good knowledge. We examined competence on a 36 item scale graded 1 for weak competence and 5 for strong competence. Factor analysis; reduce the 36 scale items down to competency domains. Frequencies and percentages for reported competencies were presented. In addition, aggregated scores for each of the competency domains were used to compare respondents based on years of experience, educational level and employment status in community pharmacy. All levels of significance were set at p≤ 0.05.

Results: 73 out of 110 community pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Of these, only 25% reported good level of knowledge in HIV therapeutics. 69% reported strong competency in identifying drug therapy problems, 31% inter-professional and patient communication. There was statistically significant difference in competency domains based on years of practice experience and employment status p<0.05. Respondents with 10 years or less of practice experience recorded higher mean ranked scores compared to those with 11 or more years. Similarly, employed pharmacists recorded higher mean ranked scores than those who owned their business.

Conclusion: Overall, respondents reported low knowledge and weak competency in HIV care emphasizing the need for specialized training before implementation of differentiated care model.