EVALUATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL CARE DELIVERY AND SATISFACTION AMONG CLIENTS ATTENDING COMMUNITY PHARMACIES IN DODOMA MUNICIPALITY-TANZANIA.

Abstract

Background Pharmaceutical care is an ongoing, authorized and systematic quality improvement process. It is designed to review medicine use and/or dispensing patterns and provide feedback of results to dispensers. Recently, pharmaceutical care in a patient-centered approach has increasingly been recognized as an important component in the evaluation of healthcare services. However in Tanzania little attention has been paid on evaluation of pharmaceutical care delivery and its impact on patient satisfaction. Thus, a study which investigates the relation between pharmaceutical care and patient relation is likely to provide useful information for improvement of pharmaceutical care delivery. Aim To investigate the pharmaceutical care delivery and satisfaction among clients attending community pharmacies in Dodoma municipality. Methodology Cross-sectional survey was conducted in community pharmacies in Dodoma municipality. The study population included adults aged 18 years and above, attending community pharmacies in Dodoma Municipality for their health care. The study comprised 21 registered community pharmacies with 375 participants. General demographic questionnaire, Pharmaceutical care questionnaire and patient satisfaction questionnaire were used. The main study was conducted between January to April 2015. The total satisfaction was categorized into two categories according to the scores such that satisfied (>25 total scores) and not satisfied (<25 total scores). The data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Studies, version 20. The descriptive and inferencial statistics were depicted and presented in the report. Results There were 375 responses to the survey, with response rate of 90%.The calculated sample size was 371 for a confidence interval of 95 % and margin of error of 5 %.The 10% of the calculated sample was added for contingency making a total sample size of 412.The participants who responded to the interview were 375,making a response rate of 90%.Participants‟ ages ranged from 18 to 70 years with majorit mean age of (40.78±11.78)years. More than half of all participants 209 (71.7%) were married. Majority of the participants had tertiary education 184(49.1 %) compared to other education levels.Majority were employed in private enterprises and peasants were 142 (37.9%) with minority 131 (35.0%) having an income of more than 300,000/sh per month.The patterns of the level of satisfaction according to some specific demographic characteristics showed no differences between rural and urban with significant difference on gender, perceived cost and education on information sharing, customer care and monitoring the progress, respectively, that are dimensions of patient‟s satisfaction. Moreover, Paracetamol, diclofenac and Artementher-Lumefantrine was the most accessible drugs in the community pharmacies. Conclusion The introduction of pharmaceutical care into routine community pharmacy operations is associated with patient satisfaction. There is a need to improve patients‟ knowledge on medications, customer care, information sharing and education, monitoring the progress, and reviewing the cost also as to improve the outcomes of pharmaceutical care. Future research should explore the implementation of pharmaceutical care and provide evaluation of effectiveness and impact on quality of satisfaction on pharmaceutical care delivery.