Research Article
Todor Naydenov, Assena Stoi
Abstract
Understanding of the specific characteristics of the pediatric patients and the pediatric dosage forms is crucial for the pharmacists’ decisions in their everyday practice. Pharmacists’ knowledge about the newest drug delivery system and orodispersible dosage forms could be essential for the adequate provision of particular pharmaceutical consultation about administration of the medicinal product. The purpose of our study was to assess the awareness, knowledge and attitude of the Bulgarian pharmacists towards drug delivery systems, orodispersible dosage forms and pediatric dosage forms as well as the pharmacists’ role in consultation process for the newest dosage forms. The study was conducted amongst pharmacists from various regions in Bulgaria during 2013. Excel processed the questionnaires and SPSS programs, ANOVA analysis and chi-square test of independence were performed to evaluate the statistical significance of the differences in the collected data and to prepare descriptive statistics. 274 pharmacists have been surveyed about their attitude towards pediatric and orodispersible dosage forms. For the main part of the respondents, organoleptic properties and the price of the pediatric dosage forms are essential. The pharmacy industry representatives remain a main source of information about the new drug delivery dosage forms. The advantages of the orodispersible dosage forms are their fast effect and better taste than the others forms. According to the significant part of the respondents, the future role of the pharmacists will be in the development of new drug delivery forms and this will lead to an increase of the need for more pharmaceutical consultations, which should be paid. According to the survey’s results, there is evidence for the significant role of the pharmacists in the therapeutic process for every patient. The future is of the innovative dosage forms and drug releasing systems which application may be a challenge – a challenge which could be overcome with the active participation of the high qualified pharmacists in the community pharmacy in Bulgaria