Assessment of community pharmacists’ perceptions of healthcare services in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives The pharmacist faces need to provide clinical services to the patients and then the actual proficiency of the pharmacist can be judged. The aim of the study was to evaluate the elements of clinical knowledge, needs for clinical services, value of practice and confidence to practice among expatriate pharmacists (EPs) working in community pharmacies. Also determine the correlation pattern between the rudiments. Methods A survey‐based investigation conducted between December 2015 and May 2016 among EPs working in community pharmacies of Saudi Arabia. A total of 1007 community pharmacies (with 1897 EPs) were approached from four major cities of Saudi Arabia, that is, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Makkah. Cluster random sampling applied for distribution/selection of community pharmacies based on homogeneity and population density. Self‐developed bilingual questionnaire (face‐content validation performed with average reliability of 0.784 Cronbach's alpha) used to collect data, however only 1258 EPs responded with 66.31% response rate rest 639 EPs either denied to participate or incomplete responses. Ethics applied and approved from Taibah University research ethics committee. Key findings A total of 1258 EPs participated in the survey with mean ± SD age of 33.17 ± 4.759 years. Participants’ distribution pattern showed highest to lowest as Riyadh‐377 (30%), Jeddah‐315 (25%), Makkah‐302 (24%) and Madinah‐264 (21%) approximately. Findings showed different association patterns with; drug‐dose adjustment practices, defining critical symptoms with drug use for referral, developing pharmacoinformatic database and others. Total Mean ± SD for knowledge: 3.87 ± 1.172, Value: 4.12 ± 2.11, Need: 4.72 ± 1.788 and Confidence: 3.25 ± 1.021 (shows significantly High Need for practice: P < 0.001, ONE‐way ANOVA). Conclusions Conclusion of the study reflective to effective clinical services inbound with knowledge, need, value and confidence of a pharmacist. Expatriate pharmacists have a potential to work efficiently but they should equip themselves with appropriate competencies in order to transform clinical services at community level.

Community pharmacist's knowledge, attitude, roles and practices towards patient-centred care in Saudi Arabia: a systematic review of the literature

“…The majority of community pharmacists in their current practice did not report adverse drug reactions to the MOH of Saudi Arabia . Studies in this systematic review showed that majority of the surveyed community pharmacists dispensed and prescribed antibiotics, antipsychotics, antihypertensive, anti‐diabetics and other non‐over–the‐counter medications upon patient's request only and without a prescription from a physician . A study by Abdulhak et al .…”

“…The present study found that community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia are frequently approached by patients and the general public to seek health‐related advice, medication counselling and for multiple drugs or disease related problems . However, the knowledge and attitude of the majority of community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia are inadequate and unsatisfactory to provide quality patient‐centred care services .…”

“…Three studies were conducted in multiple cities in Saudi Arabia. One study was conducted in Riyadh, Buraydah and Hail, one in Riyadh and Jeddah and one in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madina . Majority of studies were questionnaire‐based surveys .…”

“…One study was conducted in Riyadh, Buraydah and Hail, one in Riyadh and Jeddah and one in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madina . Majority of studies were questionnaire‐based surveys . Five studies used simulated patient methodology, while two studies used face to face interview and questionnaire‐based survey as their evaluation method .…”

“…Three studies investigated the knowledge of community pharmacists about proper use of inhalers and three studies explored the attitude and practices of adverse drug reaction reporting by community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia . Community pharmacist's knowledge and practices of pharmaceutical care were evaluated by two studies . There were five studies which targeted specific areas of pharmaceutical care like community pharmacist's knowledge attitude and practices to provide medication counselling and patient education in oral health, herbal products, pregnancy and mental illnesses .…”