A study on determining the opinions and attitudes of community pharmacists about non-pharmaceutical medicinal products

Abstract

Social change and changing needs of today's people bring about a service concept that includes both prescription drugs and non-prescription drugs (over the counter medicines and parapharmaceuticals) are offered to clients. Community pharmacists who are the most accessible healthcare providers begin to focus on selling (parapharmaceuticals) non-pharmaceutical medicinal products (NPMPs) that are seen more profitable and require less bureaucratic processes. Assuming that the dilemmas often experienced by community pharmacists between the "businessman" and "healthcare giver" roles could affect their attitudes and opinions about NPMPs. The study, which is designed from this point of departure, is aimed at revealing the opinions of community pharmacists about NPMPs, their knowledge NPMPs and their attitudes such as sales of these products and their policy arrangements. A face to face questionnaire was distributed to 244 community pharmacists in Ankara. According to the results, it was determined that the rate of NPMP sales in total turnover and the pharmacy settlement affect the opinions and attitudes on the subject of the community pharmacists. Most of the pharmacists' "business owner" roles have been shown to influence their attitudes towards drugs and NPMPs, whether their NPMP sales are excessive or not.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Community Pharmacists Toward Non-pharmaceutical Products in Saudi Arabia

“…Similarly, a previous study conducted in Turkey found that the most common non-pharmaceutical products are food supplements (87.3%), and mother and baby products (86.5%), while the least common were sports products and foods (5.7%) (17).…”

“…Similar findings were reported in a previous study in Turkey where participants believed that non-pharmaceutical products should only be sold in community pharmacies to help with revenue and profits. They also believed that providing counseling for customers on these products is the duty of the pharmacist (17).…”

“…The structured questionnaire was adapted from a previous study conducted in Turkey (17). The adaptation was conducted by altering the questions of the original survey to fit the context and aim of the current study.…”