KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND PERCEPTION OF PHYSICIANS REGARDING PHARMACOTHERAPY OF OBESITY: A SURVEY OF PAKISTAN
Syed Ata Rizvi
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Sadaf Shahid
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Atta Abbas
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Atta Abbas
Department of Pharmacy, Health and Well Being, University of Sunderland, England, United Kingdom.
Sidra Tanwir
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Shazia Adnan
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Arif Sabah
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Wafa Saghir
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Khizar Jabbar
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Asma Qadri
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Amna Bibi
Faculty of Pharmacy, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Obesity is defined as the excess of body fats and is the contributing factor in number of co morbidities. The increase in the rate of obesity was previously observed only in the developed countries but due to the social and economic changes developing countries are now facing this problem. A quantitative cross sectional survey design was chosen targeting the physicians of Pakistan to test their knowledge and find out their experience as well as perceptions about the treatment and pharmacotherapy of obesity. The study was conducted for 10 months i.e. January 2013 to October 2013. A total of 603 physicians were targeted in the survey out of which 492 responded giving a response rate of 81.5%. The data thus gathered was analyzed using SPSS v 20 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20). Similar number of males (56.1%) and females (43.9%) physicians are involved in the treating obesity in Pakistan. The majority of physicians were general physicians (45.9%) and relatively new to the field i.e. less than 5 years (56.9%). Half of the physicians (41.9%) responded by mentioning the rarity of the success with obesity treatment and the majority (38.6%) considered a lipid lowering drug as a 1st line. The physicians (83%) acknowledged that obesity is becoming a cause of concern in the health care environment of Pakistan (P value <0.05). Moreover, the work experiences of physicians were observed to be associated to their perception of obesity as a growing problem in Pakistan. (P value <0.05).The physicians acknowledged obesity as a growing problem in Pakistan but did not have knowledge about the complexities of disease neither did they have a significant success treating obesity in their personal experience. An educational intervention by a pharmacist is the need of the hour.
3 , 2 , 2013
80 - 85