Original Paper

Self-Monitoring of Blood Pressure and the Role of Community Pharmacists in Kuwait
Wandikayi C. Matowe, Eman A. Abahussain, Abdelmoneim Awad, Phillip A. Capps

Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Health Science Center, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Address of Corresponding Author

Med Princ Pract 2008;17:27-31 (DOI: 10.1159/000109586)

  Key Words

• Blood pressure monitoring devices
• Sphygmomanometer
• Validation

  Abstract

Objective: To determine the types of devices for self-monitoring of blood pressure available to consumers in Kuwait and the pharmacists' knowledge and level of information provided to consumers when purchasing such devices.Materials and Methods: It was possible to contact 196 of the 230 eligible pharmacies from five governorates in Kuwait. Ten of these were used to pretest the questionnaire and six declined to participate. Another six did not carry any blood pressure monitoring devices and hence were excluded. Data was then collected from pharmacists at the 174 remaining community pharmacies via face-to-face structured interview of the respondents at their work sites. Results: Of the 174 pharmacists, 173 (99.4%) claimed to offer or provide advice to clients at the time of purchasing devices, 117 (67.1%) of them stating that they did so even if the patients did not ask. Although 147 (84.5%) respondents correctly identified the mercury sphygmomanometer as the most reliable device for measuring blood pressure, less than half (86, 49.4%) claimed to know how to check the accuracy of the devices they sold. Only 25 (14.4%) pharmacists could actually identify the correct procedure for checking the accuracy of the devices and only 25 (14.4%) pharmacists could correctly identify cutoff points for systolic and diastolic blood pressure delineating clinical hypertension. Only 1 pharmacist could correctly name a reference source for blood pressure measurement. Conclusion: There is a need for improvement of community pharmacists' competence in supporting patients and in providing them with information regarding devices for measuring blood pressure in Kuwait.

Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Dr. Wandikayi C. Matowe
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy
Health Science Center, Kuwait University, PO Box 24923, 13110 Safat (Kuwait)
Tel. +965 498 6047 or +965 531 2300, ext. 6047, Fax +965 534 2807
E-Mail w.matowe@hsc.edu.kw

  Article Information

Received: December 24, 2006
Revised: April 4, 2007
Number of Print Pages : 5
Number of Figures : 0, Number of Tables : 3, Number of References : 18