The Assessment of Knowledge, Perception and Willingness to Use Telepharmacy in the General Population in Indonesia

• Published in: Drug safety Vol. 46; no. 11; pp. 1190 - 1191
• Main Authors: Zairina, E, Atmaja, D S, Alfian, S D, Kristina, S A, Pradipta, I S, Hak, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Auckland Springer Nature B.V 01.11.2023
• Subjects: Cardiovascular diseases; COVID-19; Data collection; Developed countries; Diabetes mellitus; Drug stores; Health services; Internet; Knowledge; Management services; Pandemics; Patients; Perception; Perceptions; Pharmaceuticals; Pharmacists; Statistical analysis; Systematic review; Indonesia
• ISSN: 0114-5916; 1179-1942

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how pharmacists provide telepharmacy services to patients. 1 Telepharmacy is recommended as an adaptable method of providing pharmaceutical care to patients by reducing patient mobility and exposure to health services.2,3 Through telepharmacy services, pharmacists can provide patient management services for cardiovascular diseases,4 diabetes mellitus,5 cancer,6 and CO VID-19.7 Telepharmacy is associated with positive health-related and user behaviour outcomes in developed countries. 8 According to recent studies, telepharmacy and video-based remote consultations in pharmaceutical care can provide comparable results to traditional pharmaceutical care services.9-10 Aim: To determine the Indonesian community's knowledge, perception, and willingness towards telepharmacy use. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done through multicentre data collection in three Indonesian cities between June and December 2022. The research sample consisted of Indonesians who met the inclusion criteria. The collected data were analysed descriptively and scored accordingly. The Spearman rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to examine the factors influencing knowledge, perception, and willingness towards telepharmacy use. Results: The majority of the 370 respondents in the study were between the ages of 21 and 25 (n = 128; 34.6%), female (n = 272; 73.0%), and high school graduates (n = 168; 45.3%). More than half (59.7 %) of the respondents understood the process and benefits of telepharmacy. According to the respondents' perceptions of telepharmacy, more than half of the respondents gave agreeable answers to all questions. On average, more than 80% of respondents agreed with the prompts about willingness to use telepharmacy services. An analysis was done on the relationship between knowledge and perception (p = 0.000; r = 0.227) and willingness to use telepharmacy services (p = 0.003; r = 0.154). Then, the relationship between perception and willingness to use telepharmacy services was also analysed statistically (p = 0.000; r = 0.277). The only statistically significant relationship was that between knowledge and a level of education (p = 0.044). Conclusion: Indonesian citizens have limited knowledge of telepharmacy, though they have positive perceptions of telepharmacy services and are willing to use them. This outcome can be used as a starting point for developing a framework for telepharmacy implementation in Indonesia.