Suleiman Ibrahim Sharif^1,, Esra Moustafa Mohamed¹

Background: The role of the pharmacist includes an effective informative counseling with the patient. Pharmacists should practice delivery of patient-centered services and patients should know their rights for proper counseling. Objectives: To assess patient’s perception and attitude towards counseling in the community pharmacy. Methods: The cross sectional study employed an anonymous questionnaire with closed ended questions, written in English and Arabic and posted online. Results: Only 362 participants responded within the specified period. The majority (314, 86.7%) of participants were females, age range of 17-24 years (238, 66%), Arabs (354, 98%), and single (234, 64.6%). Participant’s visits to the pharmacy were 2-4 times (120, 33.1%) and > 10 times (107, 29.6%) annually. The main reason of these visits was to obtain medications (248, 68.5%). Large number of participants ask about the dose (278, 77%) and frequency of administration and duration of use (238, 65.7%), while only 91 (25.1%) of participants ask about side effects. Surprisingly, 182 (50.3%) of the participants admitted not asking about side effects. Reasons of participants not asking for information include getting these from the prescribing physician (204, 56.4%) and having earlier experience (175, 48.3%) with the medication. Sources of information were mainly the physician (262, 72.4%) followed by the pharmacist (220, 60.8%). Participants who consult a physician when feeling ill comprised 146 (40.3%) and a few consult the pharmacist (64, 17.7%). Conclusion: In UAE, the usual practice in most community pharmacies is product- rather than patient-centered and such a perception negatively influences patient’s satisfaction with community pharmacy services.

public perception, practice, counseling, community pharmacy