Pharmacist’s Knowledge of High-risk/Alert Medications in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To explore pharmacist’s knowledge of High-risk/Alert medications in Saudi Arabia. Methods: It analyzes a cross-sectional survey discussing pharmacist knowledge of High-risk/Alert medications in Saudi Arabia. The survey consisted of respondents’ demographic information about pharmacists, the High-risk/Alert medications assessment of basic knowledge, and The Resources used about the High risk or high-alert medications. The 5-point Likert response scale system was used with closed-ended questions. The survey was validated through the revision of expert reviewers and pilot testing. Besides, various tests of the reliability of McDonald’s ω, Cronbach alpha, Gutmann’s λ2, and Gutmann’s λ6 been done with the study. Furthermore, the data analysis of the pharmacist’s knowledge of High-risk/ Alert medications is done through the survey monkey system. Besides, the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS), Jeffery’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP), and Microsoft Excel sheet version 16. Results: A total number of 442 pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Of them, more than one-third responded from the Central region (183 (40.40%)), and one Quarter responded from the Western part (119 (26.92%)), with statistically significant differences between the provinces (p=0.000). Males responded more than females (264 (59.59%)) versus 179 (40.41%)), with statistically significant differences between all levels (p=0.000). Most of the responders were in the age group of 24-30 years (266 (59.91%)) and 31-35 years (78 (17.57%)), with statistically significant differences between all age groups (p=0.000). Most of the pharmacists were staff pharmacists (323 (72.75%)) and pharmacy supervisors (56 (12.61%)), with statistically significant differences between all levels (p=0.000). The average score of knowledge of pharmacists about High-risk/ Alert medications was (3.71). The pharmacists familiar with prohibited abbreviations during High-risk/Alert prescribing medications obtained the highest score (4.42). The element “heard about the concept of High-risk/Alert medications” got the second highest score (4.39), with a statistically significant difference between the responses (p<0.000). Followed by the pharmacists familiar with look-alike sound-alike of Highrisk/ Alert medications (4.30) and know the narcotics and controlled medications (4.27) ), with a statistically significant difference between the responses (p<0.000). The most used resources for High-risk/Alert or high-alert medication information were Drug information resources (Lexi comp-drug information, Micromedex, Epocrates etc. 345 (78.05%), and Scientific literature 222 (50.23%). They were followed by Health practitioners 206 (46.61%) SFDA website 157 (35.52%). Conclusion: The pharmacist’s knowledge of High-risk/Alert medications is adequate in Saudi Arabia. However, an expanded basic and advanced understanding of High-risk/Alert areas is needed to improve pharmacy performance, patient safety, and quality of life in Saudi Arabia.