Pharmacy specialists' attitudes toward pharmaceutical service quality at community pharmacies. 2010

Gvidas Urbonas, and Irayda Jakušovaitė, and Arūnas Savickas
Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, A. Mickevičiaus 9, 44307 Kaunas, Lithuania. gvidas.urbonas@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE The main objective of this study was to analyze pharmacy specialists' attitudes toward the quality of pharmaceutical services at Lithuanian community pharmacies. METHODS Between April and June 2009, a total of 471 Lithuanian community pharmacy specialists completed a questionnaire designed to evaluate their attitudes toward the quality of pharmaceutical services at community pharmacies. The main dimensions of pharmaceutical service quality were extracted by principal component analysis. RESULTS Two main dimensions of pharmaceutical service quality were extracted: pharmacotherapeutic aspects (provision of information about drug therapy, possible side effects, health promotion, the amount of time spent with a patient, and the ascertainment that a patient understood the provided information) and socioeconomic aspects (considering patient's needs and financial capabilities, making a patient confident with the services provided). Pharmacy specialists evaluated the quality of both dimensions positively, but the quality of the first dimension was rated significantly worse than that of the second dimension. The attitudes of pharmacy specialists working at independent pharmacies were more positive toward pharmacotherapeutic aspects as compared to the specialists working at chain or state pharmacies. Pharmacotherapeutic aspects were rated better by pharmacy specialists, aged ≥ 55 years, than those younger than 45 years. Moreover, the attitudes of 45-54-year-old pharmacy specialists toward the socioeconomic aspects were more positive as compared with those of 35-44-year olds. Pharmacists rated the socioeconomic aspects of pharmaceutical service quality worse as compared with pharmacy technicians. The attitudes of pharmacy specialists working at pharmacies with 6-9 specialists were more negative toward pharmacotherapeutic aspects than those of the pharmacies with 1-2 specialists. Pharmacy specialists working at pharmacies with ≥ 10 specialists reported lower scores of socioeconomic aspects as compared to those working at pharmacies with fewer specialists. Men evaluated both pharmacotherapeutic and socioeconomic aspects worse than women. The evaluation of pharmaceutical service quality did not differ by pharmacy location. CONCLUSIONS Two dimensions of pharmaceutical service quality were determined. According to Lithuanian pharmacy specialists, the quality of pharmacotherapeutic aspects at community pharmacies was worse than that of socioeconomic aspects. The evaluation of the quality of pharmaceutical service significantly differed according to the specialists' sex, age, qualification, and type and size of pharmacies.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008097 Lithuania Country in eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia, west of Belarus. The capital is Vilnius.
D010594 Pharmacies Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs. Community Pharmacies,Pharmacy Distribution,Community Pharmacy,Distribution, Pharmacy,Distributions, Pharmacy,Pharmacies, Community,Pharmacy Distributions,Pharmacy, Community
D010595 Pharmacists Those persons legally qualified by education and training to engage in the practice of pharmacy. Clinical Pharmacists,Community Pharmacists,Retail Pharmacists,Clinical Pharmacist,Community Pharmacist,Pharmacist,Pharmacist, Clinical,Pharmacist, Community,Pharmacist, Retail,Pharmacists, Clinical,Pharmacists, Community,Pharmacists, Retail,Retail Pharmacist
D011787 Quality of Health Care The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality. Pharmacy Audit,Quality of Care,Quality of Healthcare,Audit, Pharmacy,Care Quality,Health Care Quality,Healthcare Quality,Pharmacy Audits
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003157 Community Pharmacy Services Total pharmaceutical services provided to the public through community pharmacies. Community Pharmaceutic Services,Community Pharmaceutical Services,Pharmaceutic Services, Community,Pharmaceutical Service, Community,Pharmaceutical Services, Community,Pharmacy Services, Community,Service, Community Pharmaceutic,Service, Community Pharmaceutical,Service, Community Pharmacy,Services, Community Pharmaceutic,Services, Community Pharmaceutical,Services, Community Pharmacy,Community Pharmaceutic Service,Community Pharmaceutical Service,Community Pharmacy Service,Pharmaceutic Service, Community,Pharmacy Service, Community
D001291 Attitude of Health Personnel Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc. Staff Attitude,Attitude, Staff,Attitudes, Staff,Health Personnel Attitude,Health Personnel Attitudes,Staff Attitudes

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