Introduction: There is a paucity of data on the extended role of community pharmacists (CP) in Malaysia. This study is aimed to evaluate CPs awareness toward their roles in healthcare and interaction with general practitioners (GPs). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional design using a validated questionnaire was conducted nationwide among randomly selected Malaysian CPs. The questionnaire consisted of consisted of 32 questions with three sections. The Cronbach's alpha measure for the scale on awareness was 0.494 and 0.724 for the interaction between CPs and GPs. Descriptive statistics were reported. The Chi-square test, Mann–Whitney test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and post hoc analyses were applied at the alpha level of 0.05. Results: Of the 127 CPs who filled out the responses, 57.5% (n = 73) mentioned that they rarely or never interacted with GPs. Many CPs (n = 106, 83.5%) were aware of their role in providing patient education, and 109 (85.8%) indicated that they could suggest nonprescription medicines to patients, whereas 88 respondents (69.3%) were aware that they could suggest alternative medicines. A total of 117 respondents (92.1%) indicated their willingness to perform selected screening tests and identify and prevent prescription errors. A considerable number of CPs (n = 76, 59.8%) were aware of their ability to design and regulate prescribed regimens, and 89 (70.1%) showed their willingness to monitor these regimens. The total average score of the CPs’ awareness toward their roles in providing healthcare for the 16 activities/items and the value of the interaction mean score was 12.00 (±2.92), with a median score of 12.00 (interquartile range: 9.5–14.5). Conclusions: Malaysian CPs are fully aware of their role in providing healthcare and pharmaceutical care. Though the majority of them were willing to provide extended services, they are often unable to perform these roles due to the lack of interprofessional collaboration, lack of time, and absence of remuneration for their extended services. Training programs, practice guidelines, and professional service fee may encourage CPs to perform more extended services.

Abstract Background: Consumers awareness, perceptions, expectations and experiences are integral components of their satisfaction towards the quality of care provided by community pharmacists. The study aims to assess consumers’ awareness, perceptions, expectations and experiences about the role of community pharmacists in providing healthcare.Methods: The study was carried out in the state of Penang, in the north of Malaysia. A survey was carried out by conveniently selecting the consumers patronizing the community pharmacies. A pretested and validated survey tool with different domains (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.577 to 0.774) was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests) were used for analyzing the data using SPSS program, Version 26.Results: Of the total 424 questionnaires distributed, 195 (46%) were returned and usable. The median age of the consumers was 30 (IQR = 28-38). The majority of them were female, Chinese, living in urban area and having a bachelor degree. The mean awareness score was 8.39 (± 2.00), mean perception score was 2.95 (± 0.83), mean expectation score was 3.70 (± 0.13), and mean experience score was 3.17 (± 0.97). Trusting a pharmacist’s advice about medicines was significantly associated with the consumer’s age (p= 0.030). age of the consumers was a significant determinant in their perception of CP suggestions about the use of certain prescription medicines to patients and physicians (p = .001 and p = 0.014, successively). The strongly anticipated that CPs should monitor responses to drug therapy and be more concerned with the patient rather than being profit-oriented (medians = 5 and 4, respectively).Conclusions: The consumers in this study were aware of the role of community pharmacists in community pharmacies and healthcare settings. They were also showed high perception, expectation and positive experience with the community pharmacists.

Aims: Consumers’ awareness, perceptions, expectations and experiences are integral components of their satisfaction towards the quality of care provided by community pharmacists. This study aims to assess consumers’ awareness, perceptions, expectations and experiences about the role of Malaysian community pharmacists in providing healthcare. Study Design:  Cross-sectional study. Place of Study:  Penang state in the north of Malaysia.  Methodology: A survey was carried out by conveniently selecting the consumers patronizing the community pharmacies.  A pretested and validated survey tool with different domains (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.577 to 0.774) was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-Square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests) were used for analyzing the data using SPSS program, Version 26. Results:  Of the total 424 questionnaires distributed, 195 (46%) were returned and usable.  The median age of the consumers was 30 (IQR = 28-38).  Majority of them were female, Chinese, living in urban area and having a bachelor degree. The mean awareness score was 8.39 (± 2.00), mean perception score was 2.95 (± 0.83), mean expectation score was 3.70 (± 0.13), and mean experience score was 3.17 (± 0.97). Trusting a pharmacist’s advice about medicines was significantly associated with the consumer’s age (p= 0.030). age of the consumers was a significant determinant in their perception of community pharmacists suggestions about the use of certain prescription medicines to patients and physicians (p = .001 and p = 0.014, successively).  The strongly anticipated that community pharmacists should monitor responses to drug therapy and        be more concerned with the patient rather than being profit-oriented (medians = 5 and 4, respectively). Conclusion:  The consumers in this study were aware of the role of community pharmacists in community pharmacies and healthcare settings.  They also reported high perception, expectation and positive experience with the community pharmacists.