Practices, attitudes, and perceived barriers toward depression care among community pharmacists in Lebanon.

Background: Community pharmacists can play a significant role in optimizing depression care. This study sought to assess the practices, attitudes and perceived barriers of Lebanese community pharmacists toward depression care along with the associated factors.

Design and method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacists in Lebanon using a self-administered online questionnaire. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were done followed by linear regression analyses to examine the association between pharmacists' practices and attitudes with different socio-demographic and professional factors.

Results: The study revealed a good level of engagement and relatively positive attitudes toward depression care, among the 275 participating community pharmacists. Those with higher attitudes scores (beta = 8.079, p ≤ 0.001) and higher percentages of weekly prescriptions of antidepressants (1%-10% antidepressants, beta = 3.160, p = 0.047; >10% of anti-depressants, beta = 2.829, p = 0.019) were significantly more involved in depression care practices. Besides, being a female (beta = 0.165, p = 0.002), having personal experiences (beta = 2.239, p = 0.001), and the presence of private counseling area (beta = 11.183, p = 0.01) were significantly associated with more positive attitudes. Conversely, pharmacists with more than 10 years of community experience (beta = -20.369, p = 0.021) and those with higher daily encounters with patients (beta = -7.243, p = 0.001) exhibited significantly lower attitude scores. The most reported perceived barriers to depression care were insufficient time for patients (48.7%), inadequate mental health education (46.9%), insufficient data (41.5%), and lack of privacy (37.1%).

Conclusions: Lebanese community pharmacists generally demonstrate favorable good practices and positive attitudes toward depression care. Several areas for improvement are still desired through broader strategies, training and awareness programs, and effective collaborations.