Background

Integrating pharmacogenetics (PGx) testing into clinical practice leads to personalized medicine, which improves treatments’ efficacy and safety. Successful implementation of such a service requires sufficient knowledge, perception, and self-confidence among healthcare providers, especially pharmacists.

Objectives

To evaluate governmental hospital pharmacists’ knowledge, perception, and self-confidence toward PGx testing in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Method

This cross-sectional study was conducted using previously validated questionnaire. Pharmacists working in five randomly selected general governmental hospitals in Jeddah between August and October 2019 were interviewed. Comparative and descriptive analyses were used to analyze the data, and the significance level was at P-value < 0.05.

Results

A total of 119 pharmacists with a mean (±SD) age of 31.2 (±5.05) years were included with a response rate of 79.3%. The average total mean (±SD) score for PGx knowledge-based questions was low (2.4 ± 1.09 out of 5). Most of the participants, with a total mean score of (10.1 ± 1.6 out of 12), revealed a positive perception toward PGx testing and its implications. A moderate self-confidence score for utilizing PGx testing (4.3 ± 2.3 out of 8) was observed among the participants. Pharmacists who had completed postgraduate studies had a statistically higher mean knowledge score (P = 0.006) compared with pharmacists with undergraduate degrees.

Conclusion

Governmental hospital pharmacists have limited knowledge and understanding about PGx testing; however, the majority expressed a high level of awareness and agreed that PGx testing is a valuable tool for enhancing drug efficacy and safety. The study also highlighted the importance of improving pharmacists’ knowledge about PGx testing, which will help them in implementing such a valuable service into their clinical practice in Saudi hospitals.

中文翻译：

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沙特阿拉伯王国吉达医院药剂师对药物遗传学的知识、认知和信心

背景

将药物遗传学 (PGx) 测试整合到临床实践中可以实现个性化医疗，从而提高治疗的有效性和安全性。这种服务的成功实施需要医疗保健提供者，尤其是药剂师有足够的知识、认知和自信。

目标

评估沙特阿拉伯王国吉达的政府医院药剂师对 PGx 检测的知识、认知和自信。

方法

这项横断面研究是使用先前验证的问卷进行的。采访了 2019 年 8 月至 2019 年 10 月期间在吉达五家随机选择的政府综合医院工作的药剂师。数据分析采用比较分析和描述性分析，显着性水平为P值<0.05。

结果

共有 119 名药剂师，平均 (±SD) 年龄为 31.2 (±5.05) 岁，反应率为 79.3%。PGx 基于知识的问题的平均总平均 (±SD) 得分较低（2.4 ± 1.09 分，满分 5 分）。大多数参与者的总平均分（12 分中的 10.1 ± 1.6 分）显示出对 PGx 测试及其影响的积极看法。在参与者中观察到使用 PGx 测试的中等自信评分（4.3 ± 2.3 分，8 分）。 与具有本科学位的药剂师相比，完成研究生学习的药剂师的平均知识分数在统计学上更高（P = 0.006）。

结论

政府医院药剂师对 PGx 检测的知识和理解有限；然而，大多数人表达了高度的认识，并同意 PGx 测试是提高药物疗效和安全性的宝贵工具。该研究还强调了提高药剂师对 PGx 检测知识的重要性，这将有助于他们在沙特医院的临床实践中实施这种有价值的服务。