Assessment of community pharmacists’ knowledge of emergency contraceptive pills, its dispensing and associated health risks with overuse in a Nigerian metropolitan City

Emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) are desirable to prevent unwanted pregnancy, which is a universal public health concern. Unwanted pregnancy could lead to unsafe abortion, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to assess community pharmacists’ knowledge, dispensing practice from a knowledge-based perspective and their knowledge of health risks involved in emergency contraception pill overuse. A cross-sectional study was carried out among community pharmacists in a Nigerian metropolitan city. The pharmacists’ knowledge of ECP and their knowledge of associated health risks with ECP overuse, as well as their ECP dispensing practice were evaluated with a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and inferential analyses with significance level set at p < 0.05. One hundred and thirty-one pharmacists participated in the study. Majority of the community pharmacists had a good level of knowledge (58; 44.27%), fair dispensing practice (112; 85.50%) and poor knowledge of health risks of ECP overuse (109; 83.21%). The barriers to community pharmacists’ counseling on ECP included knowledge gaps on appropriate use of ECP (77; 58.78%), cultural or social norms (69; 52.67%) and lack of demand for counseling by patients (55; 41.98%). The pharmacists’ knowledge, dispensing practice and knowledge of health risk associated with ECP overuse were not significantly different when compared with gender, educational qualification and work experience. The community pharmacists surveyed displayed good knowledge, fair knowledge of dispensing practice but poor understanding of the health risk associated with the overuse of ECP. It is recommended that specific measures such as practice-based mandatory continuous education programmes or updates during Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) annual meetings are needed to address ECP knowledge and practice gaps among community pharmacists to further improve their knowledge and practice base.