Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice About Vitamin Supplements Counseling in Libyan Community Pharmacies

Pharmacists play an important role in the healthcare system and have a greater impact on the outcome of public health programs. Patients who seek vitamin advice presume the role of community pharmacists including the recommendation of effective vitamin supplements. This study aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and professional practices of Libyan community pharmacists in counselling patients about the safe consumption of vitamins. A cross-sectional study was conducted in pharmacies located in Tripoli, Libya between October 2023 and February 2024. Data collection was carried out using semi-structured self-administrated questionnaire. A total of 235 pharmacists participated in this study. The majority (75.3%) of pharmacists believed that a balanced diet is more achievable by eating healthily than by vitamins supplements. 76.6% of participants believed that chronic consumption of certain vitamins would not shorten life spans, while 65.5% agreed that vitamin supplements could be toxic or might contain unlabeled harmful ingredients. Less than half of pharmacists (35.3) were aware that some antioxidant vitamins have been verified to be of unproven value, or may even cause cancer. 80% of pharmacists would recommend vitamins on a regular basis without prescription, the majority agreed that counselling on vitamin supplements is part of their role in pharmaceutical care (94.5%), in addition to providing relevant information to other healthcare professionals (76.6%). Moreover, responses to specific knowledge questions, such as the interactions of vitamins with drugs or the recommended dietary allowance of vitamins for infants, children, and pregnant women, were negative. Furthermore, only a minority of pharmacists (48.5%) would recheck the accuracy of dose regimens in prescriptions and 50.6% of participants would follow up patients to record any consequences of vitamins consumption. The questionnaire revealed satisfactory awareness of community pharmacists about their role in counselling; however, further programmes to update their knowledge are mandatory to emphasise the importance of vitamin supplements as part of complementary medicine, and their exclusion from being considered as merely over the counter (OTC) products.