Objective:
The objective of this study is to assess the performance
of community pharmacist towards antidiabetic and antiasthma prescriptions,
and also to assess the lack of information provided by community
pharmacists regarding patient counseling and missing data, using
a simulated patient technique. Methods: A prescription including antidiabetic
and antiasthma drugs was used by simulated patient to assess community
pharmacist’s performance in 194 pharmacies. A performance assessment
sheet was used to measure the patient counseling process. A quantitative
descriptive and comparative analysis was done for the collected
data. Pearson chi-square test (crosstabs) was used with a level
of significance 95%). Results: The analysis of the 194 pharmacies visited
revealed that most of the pharmacists were male (61%), Arabs (35%)
and Indians (55%) with some other nationalities. The dispensing
time in the pharmacy ranged between 2 to 10 minutes. Spending
time with patients was not affected by gender (p-value 0.087),
slightly affected by nationality (p-value 0.04), and highly affected
by age (p-value 0.002) leaning towards older pharmacists who spent
more time with patients than younger pharmacists. Most pharmacists
(90%) started preparing the prescription once they received the
prescription with no actual prescription screening. fifty five
percent of the pharmacists asked about the duration of the treatment
after preparing the prescription. ninety six percent did not counsel
patients about diet, exercise and lifestyle changes. Less than
40% asked if the prescription was intended to be used for the
same patient. Conclusion: This study recommends that health
authorities consider follow up plans in order to ensure the best
pharmaceutical care is provided by community pharmacies.
