A cross-sectional study comparing emotional intelligence and perceived stress in groups of pharmacists delivering and not delivering a new community pharmacy service

Abstract

Background:Community pharmacists (CPs) strongly contribute to public health and person-centered care. Emotional intelligence (EI) may help health professionals better engage with patients, handle stress in challenging situations, and presumably better introduce and implement new services. Such data in different CP populations do not exist. Aim:The study's primary aim was to compare the EI and perceived stress (PS) levels in CPs providing a new service to patients with diabetes with their controls, CPs providing standard pharmaceutical care (PhC). Method:Well-validated instruments were distributed electronically to all participating CPs. To compare the continuous EI and PS level data between the two study groups, the Independent Samples t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test was used. Pearson and Spearman’s correlations tested the associations between EI and PS and their respective sub-domains. Results:A total of 86 CPs participated in the study. The study groups did not differ by any characteristics except gender, and their EI and PS levels did not differ. In both study groups, inverse correlations were found between PS and EI levels, with strong statistical significance in the control group. Conclusion:Our study results suggest that the introduction of the EI agenda into the certification programs for new CP services should be considered. The results also suggest that higher EI may have protective effects against PS. Additional research with larger cohorts and a longitudinal design, including EI development intervention, would clarify the need to invest in CP-oriented EI programs more.