Community pharmacists’ knowledge about medication use in glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase G6PD deficiency in Khartoum, Sudan: A descriptive study

Abstract

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase G6PD is a cytoplasmic enzymes that are found in all cells of the human body, it plays an essential and vital role in preventing cellular damage from reactive oxygen radicles ROS. Pharmacist can play a major role in providing G6PD deficient patients with the useful information about medications that needs to be avoided in such conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the pharmacist knowledge about medications use in G6PD deficient patients. Study’s results showed that most of the pharmacists were able to define G6PD deficiency correctly. However, majority were not able to identify risk factors for hemolysis correctly. With regards to the pharmacists’ knowledge about drug usage pattern in G6PD deficient patients, they showed an overall good knowledge as they were able to correctly identify the contraindicated and used with caution medications. Pharmacists should use continuous pharmaceutical education to keep up with updated evidence based information regarding medication use in specific population such as G6PD deficient individuals especially in G6PD prevalent regions.