OBJECTIVES: Dietary supplement (DS) utilization is dramatically increasing across the globe among patients. Community pharmacies are a major provider of DS products. Thus, community pharmacists need to have adequate knowledge and information to advice their patients regarding appropriate use DS. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of community pharmacist in Ethiopia about DS.

METHODS: This is a multi-center study was conducted in a cross-sectional design in which a questionnaire was administered to a sample of licensed community pharmacies and drug stores of different cities in Ethiopia. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). The result was considered significant if P < 0.05.

RESULTS: A total of 672 community pharmacists were surveyed, however, 600 were included in the analysis based on inclusion criteria. Majority of the respondents were female (n = 360, 60.0%) and the rest were males. Regarding the qualification of community pharmacist majority had a bachelor degree in pharmacy (n = 359, 59.8%). The majority of pharmacist surveyed (66.7%) had an adequate knowledge about DS, while 33.3% of participants were found within the poor knowledge range. Almost most of (58.8%) the respondents were within the bad practice range regarding DS. A significant difference in mean KAP scores value was found between pharmacists according to age group, educational level, and experience in community pharmacy (Kruskal-Wallis test; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: It is evident from this study that there is a need for pharmacists to receive additional training in the area of DS. Emphasis should be placed on teaching pharmacists how to critically evaluate the use, efficacy, and safety of common DS as well as how to integrate with patients to address these and other issues associated with common DS use.