The Role of Pharmacists in Fighting Substance Abuse: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Pharmacists are crucial to caring for patients who use and abuse psychoactive substances, especially those with substance use disorders, in all care settings. The Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction (AMERSA) has created key skills for pharmacists to address substance use in the 21st century to maximize, maintain, and increase these independent and collaborative responsibilities. Thus, this study aims to explore the role of pharmacists in fighting substance abuse. This is an updated systematic review of studies on the role of pharmacists in fighting substance abuse between 2019 and 2022. The PubMed and Google scholar databases were used to explore studies regarding our subject. The keywords included "Role, Pharmacists, Fighting, Substance, and Abuse" and were used in various combinations. Original research reporting medical therapies used in the role of pharmacists in fighting substance abuse and full-text publications served as the inclusion criterion.Though 150 articles were obtained, only eight met the inclusion criteria. The review involved community pharmacists; all the studies were cross-sectional. The most abused prescription and non-prescription drugs were anti-malarials and simple analgesics, over-the-counter (OTC), opioids, prescription medicines, and Pregabalin. Nearly half of the studied pharmacists received substance use disorder (SUD) education concerning pharmacists\' knowledge and perceptions in pharmacy school. The number of years worked significantly predicted knowledge and screening. Relationships between knowledge, attitudes, and practices indicate a need for experiential education that includes psychosocial aspects of care. This clarifies that the pharmacists\' role in preventing drug abuse is significant. Training programs influenced pharmacists\' attitudes and perceptions about targeted behaviors and associated them with the value of screening for opioid misuse or overdose risk and counseling patients about the benefits and risks of opioids.