Integrating Mental Health Screening in Community Pharmacies: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceived Barriers Among Pharmacy Students.

Abstract

Mental health disorders remain a significant global burden, and access to timely mental healthcare remains limited. Community pharmacies, given their accessibility to the public, are well-positioned for early mental health screening. Here, we aimed to assess pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and perceived barriers in this regard. The study was conducted via a printed questionnaire, and a total of 211 students, with a mean age of 23.3 ± 3.32 years, participated, including males (35.55%) and females (64.45%). Most students agreed that they are familiar with common mental health disorders (44.08%) and the roles of pharmacists in mental healthcare (38.39%), but were neutral in terms of their ability to identify signs and symptoms (43.13%), awareness of mental health screening tools (32.7%), and confidence in their ability to perform screening (28.44%), with males reporting higher awareness and confidence (p < 0.05) than females. In terms of attitudes, the majority strongly agreed that mental healthcare is essential (50.24%), and most agreed that pharmacists are well-positioned for mental health screening (40.28%) and that screening can improve patient outcomes (39.81%), reduce stigma (37.44%), and should be a routine pharmacy practice (30.81%). The overall score of self-perceived knowledge was 59%, while that for positive attitude was 69%. Lastly, the participants moderately agreed on several potential barriers, including time constraints, lack of pharmacist training or education, lack of sufficient privacy, patient reluctance to share and communicate, and stigma toward mental illness among pharmacists, with agreement scores ranging from 53.25% to 64.75%. The results indicate a low level of perceived knowledge, moderately positive attitudes, and relative awareness of the potential barriers, suggesting a need for improved awareness and education in this regard.