Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Perceptions Regarding Use of Sunscreen Among Pharmacists in Jordan

Sunscreens are the agents to protect the skin from the destructive effects of the Ultraviolet radiation. Pharmacists are the expert healthcare providers in guiding the consumers regarding usage of sunscreen agents. this study is to evaluate the extent to which pharmacists in Jordan are aware of the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perceptions of sunscreen usage. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the pharmacists in Jordan using a self-administered questionnaire which was created using Google Forms(R) and was distributed online on different social media platforms. The questionnaire containing 5 sections to assess demographics (9 items), knowledge (11 items), attitude (8 items), practice (12 items), and perception (2 items). The data was subjected to descriptive and inference statistics. A total of 407 pharmacists working in different fields completed the survey, consisted of (79.6%) female and 20.4% male. 56.5% of participants were less than 30 years old, while (56%) of participants have experience of less than 5 years. The results showed that knowledge, attitude and practice scores were strongly impacted by age (p=0.011), (p<0.001) respectively. In addition, (53.8%) were familiar with Fitzpatrick scale of skin type that categorizes the skin into 6 types, and 232 (57.0%) responded correctly regarding the active ingredients classification of sunscreen agents. Also, knowledge score (p=0.023), attitude and practice score (p=0.007) were significantly influenced by years of experience. Furthermore, (55.3%) and (66.6%) of pharmacists correctly identified that gel form and cream form are the recommended forms for clients of oily skin and dry skin respectively. In conclusion, the knowledge and practice of sunscreen use among pharmacists in Jordan were sub optimal. This demonstrated that pharmacist needs more specialized courses during practice for their continuing professional development to enhance the knowledge and the practice.