• Nadia Al Mazrouei, Rana M Ibrahim, Ahmad Z Al Meslamani, Derar H Abdel-Qader, Adel Shaban Sadeq, and Mohamed IbrahimOsamaODepartment of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt..
• Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.
• Int J Pharm Pract. 2021 Mar 17; 29 (2): 137-144.

ObjectivesTo investigate community pharmacists' knowledge about COVID-19 and their preparedness for the pandemic.MethodsThis cross-sectional online survey was conducted (in community pharmacies in the United Arab Emirates) over 3 weeks (24 May 2020 to 14 June 2020). A proportionate random sample of 491 participants was invited to take part. The SPSS version 26 was used for data management and analysis.Key FindingsThe majority of participants (n = 400) had good knowledge about COVID-19 and high level of preparedness for the pandemic control. Most pharmacists agreed (212, 53.0%) or strongly agreed (91, 22.8%) that they have a major role in the management of the ongoing crisis. Most participants had good awareness about the most common methods of COVID-19 transmission (359, 89.7%) and symptoms encountered (368, 92.0%). However, approximately a quarter of participants (103, 25.7%) incorrectly thought COVID-19 was caused by a DNA virus. Participants who had 5-10 and >10 years of experience were 3.95 (P = 0.03) and 1.59 (P = 0.01) times, respectively, were more likely to have good knowledge compared to participants with less than 2 years of experience. Those with good knowledge were more likely to have a specific area for customers with suspected COVID-19 symptoms compared to those with poor knowledge (P = 0.031).ConclusionThis study indicates that years of experience and good knowledge on COVID-19 were significant determinants of pharmacists' preparedness for the pandemic control.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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