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Abstract

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic Hijri calendar where Muslims are expected to fast every day from dawn to sunset. The eating behavior changes during Ramadan and the abstinence of food affects the oral drugs administration. Objectives: To measure the awareness of pharmacists? role in providing pharmaceutical care during Ramadan. Moreover, to explore pharmacists? perspective on the importance of medication regimen adjustment along with the proper counseling required to optimize patients? health throughout fasting. Method: This is an observational study that was done through dissemination of a cross-sectional survey among 390 pharmacists covering all the Emirates in UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, and Northern Emirates). The targeted population consisted of practicing community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists across UAE. The data is collected and analyzed statistically using SPSS program. Results: Among pharmacist participated in the study 88.5% of pharmacists were Muslims and 60.8% were Arabs. Ninety seven percent pharmacists reported performing one or more kinds of medication regimen adjustment around Ramadan for at least one patient. Changing the frequency had the highest percentage by the pharmacist compared to other methods of regimen adjustment (39%). Moreover, the results revealed that 46.9% of the pharmacists chose not to change the medication itself. Nineteen percent of Muslim pharmacists initiated the conversation about medication regimen adjustment compared to non-Muslims (P=0.0448), while 14% of pharmacists were comparing Arab to non-Arab pharmacists showed no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, pharmacists are qualified to adjust and manage medication regimens and can perform a better role than what they are presently performing. Utilization of such skill is required to adjust patients? medication regimen during fasting the holy month of Ramadan and to ensure safe transition for fasting patients into and out of Ramadan.

Biography

Osama H Mohamed Ibrahim has completed his PhD at the age of 32 years from Oregon State University, USA. He is Associated Professor at Faculty of Pharmacy Cairo University, Egypt and currently he is a Visiting Assistant Professor at University of Sharjah, UAE. He is the Founder of Clinical Pharmacy Department at Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University. He is currently pharmacy practice unit Co-ordinator and Chairman of students training committee at college of Pharmacy at University of Sharjah. His researches focus on pharmaceutical care in developing countries, the role of clinical pharmacists on disease management and clinical pharmacokinetics. He is a Reviewer and serving as an Editorial Board Member in several reputable medical and pharmaceutical journals.