Community pharmacists’ knowledge, prospective and practice towards health related illness at Hajj and Umrah: A cross sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To assess the community pharmacists' (CPs) knowledge, attitude, and perception of health-related illness among pilgrims, and to investigate the common diseases and the pattern of medications dispensed by CPs during Hajj and Umrah seasons. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over two months in 2022, through electronic platform using prevalidated questionnaires adopted from the literature. The questionnaires were divided into 4 sections assessing the CP's knowledge, attitude, and perception about health-related illness, common dispensed agents, and required vaccination during Hajj and Umrah. RESULTS: A total of 544 CPs, mostly between the age of 31–40 (69.9%), participated in this research. About 87.9% of the CPs received a pilgrim after performing their rituals coming to the pharmacy complaining of infection or health problem. In this study, 99.8%(n = 544), 99.6%(n = 543), and 92.7% (n = 505) of the CPs identified influenza, food poisoning, and diarrhea/gastroenteritis as the most common issues during the Hajj & Umrah season respectively. As results, anti-diarrheal agents (96.3%), painkillers (87.3%), inhalers (89.4%), and sunscreens (88.3%) were the most requested pharmaceutical agents. Additionally, 96.7%(n = 527) of the CPs agreed that vaccination is safe to be given to Hajj and Umrah pilgrims particularly for those aged ≥ 65 years, and 89.4%(n = 487) of them reported awareness of vaccines that are required by Saudi Ministry of Health. Both Influenza and meningococcal meningitis vaccines were identified by 99.8% of the CPs, but polio vaccine was identified by 33.9%. CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists provided pharmaceutical care services for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. The majority of CPs had adequate knowledge about viral diseases during Hajj and Umrah and their requirement for vaccination.