Abdul Ghani Norazila, Kamaruddin Nur 'Afini Fithriyaani, Mokhtar Nurul Innany
Pharmacy Unit, Hospital Jitra, Kedah, Malaysia.
Malays J Med Sci. 2021 Feb;28(1):87-96. doi: 10.21315/mjms2021.28.1.11. Epub 2021 Feb 24.
Dispensing separation (DS) is a critical policy change that will reduce medical costs, improve population health and increase the quality of healthcare in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the awareness and perception of the public regarding the DS methods.
This cross-sectional study uses a pre-validated, self-administered questionnaire, which has been administered to 200 residents in Jitra, Kedah, Malaysia. Descriptive and inferential statistics have been used to analyse the data.
Females formed 64.0% of the participants, with Malay being the dominant ethnic group ( = 167, 83.5%); 77.5% of the participants reported they were aware of the role of pharmacists in the healthcare system. However, 35.0% of the participants reported having never heard the term 'dispensing separation' in any mainstream media in Malaysia, whereas 73.5% of the participants reported that a pharmacist was more reliable than a physician in providing medicines once the diagnosis had been made and 77.5% of them acknowledged that pharmacists were experts in the field of medication. There was a significant association between the participant's awareness and the agreement on perceptions toward the implementation of the DS ( < 0.05).
Awareness of the implementation of DS among residents in Jitra is still low. However, there is strong evidence of public support and the benefits of DS in Malaysia.
配药分离是一项关键的政策变革，将降低马来西亚的医疗成本、改善民众健康并提高医疗保健质量。本研究旨在确定公众对配药分离方法的知晓度和看法。
这项横断面研究采用了经过预验证的自填式问卷，对马来西亚吉打州日得拉的200名居民进行了调查。使用描述性和推断性统计方法分析数据。
女性占参与者的64.0%，马来族是主要族群（n = 167，83.5%）；77.5%的参与者表示他们了解药剂师在医疗保健系统中的作用。然而，35.0%的参与者表示从未在马来西亚的任何主流媒体上听说过“配药分离”这个词，而73.5%的参与者表示在做出诊断后，药剂师在提供药品方面比医生更可靠，77.5%的参与者承认药剂师是药物领域的专家。参与者的知晓度与对配药分离实施看法的认同之间存在显著关联（P < 0.05）。
日得拉居民对配药分离实施的知晓度仍然较低。然而，有强有力的证据表明马来西亚公众支持配药分离及其带来的益处。
