Abstract
BackgroundPharmacists are recognized as one of the most accessible healthcare providers and are licensed to advise patients on drugs and health products including dietary and herbal supplements (DHSs). The objective of this study was to identify barriers, knowledge, and training that pharmacists report related to DHSs counselling.MethodsMEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED and CINAHL were systematically searched from database inception to May 8th, 2020. Eligible articles contained qualitative data with a specific focus on pharmacists’ perceived knowledge, training, and barriers to DHSs counselling. Relevant data were extracted, and a thematic analysis was conducted.ResultsNineteen articles met the inclusion criteria. The following three main themes were identified: challenges to pharmacists obtaining DHSs education, postgraduate workplace challenges surrounding DHSs, and pharmacists’ perceived role and importance on DHSs. Low knowledge of DHSs and the limited regulations surrounding DHSs acting as a barrier to counselling were common findings supported by the eligible articles.ConclusionsA lack of pharmacists’ knowledge and awareness of DHSs stems from a variety of factors including a lack of education and training in the field, limited regulations surrounding DHSs, and inadequate availability of DHS information resources in the pharmacy. Pharmacists were unable to confidently counsel patients due to these aforementioned factors in addition to reporting that they lacked time. Further research that reviews pharmacy education and workplace training, and improving DHS regulations are warranted future directions.
Highlights
Pharmacists are recognized as one of the most accessible healthcare providers and are licensed to advise patients on drugs and health products including dietary and herbal supplements (DHSs)
Our finding suggest that a course dedicated to DHSs in pharmacy education may be of value, as well as improved regulations that mandate premarket clinical data for DHSs to test for drug-DHS interactions
This review provides a summary of the barriers, knowledge, and training that pharmacists report related to counselling about DHSs
Summary
Pharmacists are recognized as one of the most accessible healthcare providers and are licensed to advise patients on drugs and health products including dietary and herbal supplements (DHSs). In 1999, a survey conducted in the United States identified that 53% of DHS users believed that DHSs were completely safe to use and rarely ever caused harm [5]. As DHSs are available without a prescription, consumers may selfmedicate and suffer the potential risks of drug-DHS interactions. A number of studies have identified DHS-drug interactions leading to adverse events [6, 7], which is of great concern as many patients often do not consult with their healthcare provider(s) before using DHSs
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