Pharmacists' attitudes toward diabetes and their involvement in diabetes education.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between pharmacists' attitudes toward diabetes and their involvement in diabetes patient education in the community setting.


METHODS
Registered pharmacists in Arizona were mailed surveys regarding their attitudes toward diabetes and their involvement in diabetes patient education. Attitudes were measured using the Diabetes Attitude Scale (DAS); the types of educational skills evaluated were based on those recommended by the American Diabetes Association's Standards of Medical Care.


RESULTS
Pharmacists' attitudes were significantly positive toward the need for special training for diabetes care, the importance of tight glycemic control, the team approach to care, and the preference for diabetes education in an outpatient setting (p < 0.001). The majority of the time, pharmacists provided basic patient education (52%) rather than intermediate or advanced patient education (26% and 27%, respectively). There was a negative correlation between the attitude that diabetes is a difficult disease to treat and pharmacists' involvement in diabetes patient education (p < 0.05). This indicates that, although pharmacists believe that diabetes is a treatable disease, they infrequently provide diabetes patient education.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, pharmacists had positive attitudes toward diabetes. These attitudes did not correlate with the degree of their involvement in diabetes patent education. More diabetes patient education through community pharmacists is needed.
Younis
W S
WS
Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ 85308-6813, USA. wyouni@arizona.midwestern.edu
Campbell
S
S
Slack
M K
MK
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001130:Arizona; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires