Menghuan Song1, Carolina Oi Lam Ung1, Hao Hu2, Yitao Wang1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Room 2057, Building N22, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China. 2. State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Room 2057, Building N22, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China. haohu@umac.mo.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In China, increasingly OTC-western medicine is obtained at the community pharmacy. It is unknown which care the community pharmacists in China provides with such medicines. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated community pharmacists' attitude, practice and perceived barriers about pharmaceutical care of over-the-counter western medicine. Moreover, community pharmacists' suggestions of improvement measures were also collected. METHODS: Questionnaire survey targeting community pharmacist. RESULTS: Respondents generally showed positive attitude towards pharmaceutical care. About 30 % of the respondents reported that they provided pharmaceutical care "whenever necessary", while about 40 % did it "as frequent as possible" or "to all consumers". Respondents considered "ambiguity of the professional role of pharmacists" (50.7 %), "Lack of scientific evidence of over-the-counter western medicine" (42.9), and "Lack of time" (40.0 %) as the main barriers. The 3 most important improvement measures suggested were "Formulating or refining legislation to clarify the legal professional role of pharmacists with respect to western medicine" (63.2 %), "Promoting public education of pharmacist role" (50.7 %), and "Formulating or refining the standards of pharmacists' practice with respect to western medicine" (50.7 %). CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists in Harbin of China have a relatively positive attitude and intention to provide pharmaceutical care of OTC western medicine. However, lack of professional role definition, limited pharmaceutical knowledge and lack of human and financial resources limited the provision of pharmaceutical care by community pharmacists.
BACKGROUND: In China, increasingly OTC-western medicine is obtained at the community pharmacy. It is unknown which care the community pharmacists in China provides with such medicines. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated community pharmacists' attitude, practice and perceived barriers about pharmaceutical care of over-the-counter western medicine. Moreover, community pharmacists' suggestions of improvement measures were also collected. METHODS: Questionnaire survey targeting community pharmacist. RESULTS: Respondents generally showed positive attitude towards pharmaceutical care. About 30 % of the respondents reported that they provided pharmaceutical care "whenever necessary", while about 40 % did it "as frequent as possible" or "to all consumers". Respondents considered "ambiguity of the professional role of pharmacists" (50.7 %), "Lack of scientific evidence of over-the-counter western medicine" (42.9), and "Lack of time" (40.0 %) as the main barriers. The 3 most important improvement measures suggested were "Formulating or refining legislation to clarify the legal professional role of pharmacists with respect to western medicine" (63.2 %), "Promoting public education of pharmacist role" (50.7 %), and "Formulating or refining the standards of pharmacists' practice with respect to western medicine" (50.7 %). CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists in Harbin of China have a relatively positive attitude and intention to provide pharmaceutical care of OTC western medicine. However, lack of professional role definition, limited pharmaceutical knowledge and lack of human and financial resources limited the provision of pharmaceutical care by community pharmacists.
Entities:
Keywords:
China; Community pharmacist; Over-the-counter; Pharmaceutical care; Western medicine
Authors: Alison S Roberts; Shalom I Benrimoj; Timothy F Chen; Kylie A Williams; Parisa Aslani Journal: Ann Pharmacother Date: 2008-05-13 Impact factor: 3.154
Authors: Furqan K Hashmi; Mohamed Azmi Hassali; Adnan Khalid; Fahad Saleem; Hisham Aljadhey; Zaheer Ud Din Babar; Mohammad Bashaar Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2017-07-19 Impact factor: 2.655