Hipertenzijos nustatymas, valdymas ir prevencija Libano visuomenės vaistinėse: vaistininko vaidmuo.

The aim and tasks of the thesis. To evaluate the involvement of pharmacists in the detection, management, and prevention of hypertension in Lebanese community pharmacies. Methodology. This study was performed using a structured questionnaire with 69 questions for a data collection. Data concerning detection of hypertension, lifestyle modification, and treatment was collected. It was conducted from 10th of July till 27th of August 2016 in community pharmacies in Beirut, Lebanon. A total of 35 pharmacists were included in the study. Data were analyzed using Excel software program. Results: Results were divided into three sections. In the first section concerning detection of hypertension, 74.29% of the respondents answered that they always, 17.14% answered sometimes, while the remaining 8.57% of the respondents answered to never measure their patients’ blood pressure. The most frequently asked risk factor by pharmacists during detection of hypertension is “age”:71.43% answered to always ask, 22.86% sometimes, 5.71% never. The other most frequently asked risk factors is about chronic disease such as diabetes and kidney disease where 48.57% of the respondents answered always, 48.57% sometimes, 2.86% never. In the second section concerning lifestyle modifications, 77.14% answered to always ask their patients to lose weight, 77.14% answered to always ask their patients to stop smoking, 80% answered always to ask their patients to obtain healthy diet such as healthy eating, 82.86% replied to always urge their patients to manage their own stress, 65.71% answered to always ask their patients to maintain a moderate physical activity and 80% of the respondents answered to always ask their patient to reduce their alcohol abuse. In the third section, most of the respondents (82.86%) answered to always ask their patients if they are currently taking antihypertensive medication and 88.57% of the respondents answered to always to ask their patients if they ever used antihypertensive medication before. As well as 65.71% answered to always check for the drug to drug interactions and 31.43% answered sometimes, while the other 2.86% answered never. As for the pharmacists’ recommendation concerning the long-term treatment of hypertension, only seven out of thirty-five pharmacists recommended medication for long term treatment. Conclusions: Lebanese pharmacists are more aware of their role in hypertension detection and prevention than hypertension management. This is due to the fact that pharmacists in Lebanon lack the ability to prescribe medication, and that is why their role in hypertension management was restricted to certain criteria but corresponds in general with the standards stated by WHO