Patient’s Assessment of Pharmaceutical Care Services in Egyptian Community Pharmacies: Cross-Sectional Study

Background and aim: Community pharmacy is the largest sector of pharmacy practice in Egypt, so the study aims to assess patients’ satisfaction with pharmaceutical services provided by community pharmacists. Methods: A cross-sectional study based on an online questionnaire was conducted in different governorates in Egypt including Cairo, Giza, El-Sharqia, El-Qliopia, and Suhag between November 2021 to April 2022. Results: A total of 545 participants completed the questionnaire with 68.4% of them being females. The mean age was 32.9±6.55 years, 52.3% of the participants were either university students or had bachelor's degrees and 56,1% of them had medical background. The participants visited independent and chain pharmacies and 63.7% of them had no chronic illness. The participants were from different governorates with higher contributions from Cairo, El-Sharqia, and El-Qliopia. The participants visited the community pharmacy for different reasons. The participants showed a moderate agreement of about 50 – 65% towards the time taken until being served, the ability of the pharmacist to answer their questions and label clear instructions of use, instead lower agreement (33–44%) was reported for the availability of medicines and ability of the pharmacist to explain medications information regarding interactions, side effects, and storage conditions. Participants aged between 45-64 years old with chronic conditions showed less agreement about the community pharmacy services. Conclusion: The community pharmacist needs to be aware of the needs of patients with chronic diseases for improved pharmaceutical care.