Abstract:
Introduction: Currently there is an uptrend in the provision of Extended Pharmacy Services (EPS) among community pharmacists (CPs). EPS referred to various services that beyond the traditional pharmacists’ roles of dispensing medicines such as public health educational program, clinical services and medicine use review. However, such services were only reported in other developed countries but not in Malaysia. Within this context, the present study aimed to explore the types of EPS available, CPs’ perceptions and attitudes towards the provision of EPS. This study also identified the perceived barriers and facilitators towards the provision of EPS.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 236 samples were collected through convenience sampling around Selangor and Kuala Lumpur region. The questionnaire consisted of 6 domains including demographic profile, the type of EPS, pharmacist’s perception, perceived barriers, perceived facilitator and pharmacist attitude towards the provision of EPS. All questions were scored using five-point Likert Scale. All the data were analysis through SPSS using descriptive statistics analysis, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal Wallis test.
Results: CPs are willing to provide EPS in near future. For the time being, health screening test were the most performed EPS. CPs often/always performed blood pressure test, (97.8%), glucose test (96.6%) and cholesterol test (83.0%). Besides that, the often/always performed counselling sessions for cough and cold (95.8%) and nutritional supplement (94.5%). However, other advanced services like smoking cessation and weight management services were not frequently performed. The top 5 perceived barriers identified includes the lack of standardized practice model for EPS (87.3%), high pressure on generating sales (86.4%), lack of patient awareness (84.4%),
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lack of access to patient medical record (83.5%) and shortage of time (80.5%). Whereas the support and encouragement from government and other pharmacy organization were identified as the most prominent facilitator towards the implementation of EPS.
Conclusion: CPs showed a positive attitude towards the provision of EPS. For the time being, there are various EPS that had already been developed and implemented. However, the identified barriers should be intervened, and facilitators should be executed to implement EPS successfully in near future.
Keywords: Pharmaceutical Care Services, Extended Pharmacy Services, Expanded Pharmacy Services, Enhanced Pharmacy Services, Barriers, Facilitators, Community Pharmacy
