Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
PLoS One. 2021 Apr 1;16(4):e0247912. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247912. eCollection 2021.
Evaluation of patients`satisfaction towards pharmacy services is of utmost importance to ensure the quality of care. It helps in identifying domains requiring improvements to provide high quality pharmacy services to ensure the provision of enhanced pharmaceutical care. The current study aims to ascertain the extent of satisfaction towards pharmacy services among patients attending outpatient pharmacies in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A hospital-based cross-sectional study involving 746 patients attending outpatient pharmacies of various public hospitals was conducted from 01 January to 15 February 2020. Information on socio-demographic profile of the study subjects along with their satisfaction towards outpatient pharmacy was extracted by using a 23-items questionnaire. These questions were divided into two domains including 7 questions related to the pharmacy facilities (questions from 1F to 7F) and 8 questions for pharmacy services (questions from 1S to 8S), where F and S denotes facilities and services, respectively. The cumulative satisfaction score was estimated by a 5-item Likert scale with a maximum score of 5 for each item. The relationship between demographics and satisfaction scores was evaluated by using appropriate statistics.
There were 746 patients with male preponderance (58.8%). The overall satisfaction score was 2.97 ± 0.65. Satisfaction towards pharmacy services scored lower (mean score: 3.91 ± 0.77) than pharmacy facilities (mean score: 4.03 ± 0.66). Items related to patient`s counseling (3F, 2S, 3S, 6S) scored least during the analysis. Older patients (p = 0.006), male gender (p<0.001), Saudi nationality (0.035), patients attending primary care centers (p = 0.02), and patients with chronic illnesses were significantly associated with lower satisfaction score.
This study reported that the satisfaction level of patients attending outpatient pharmacies was low and differed among various socio-demographic groups. Approximately one-half of the patients were not satisfied with outpatient pharmacy services. These findings underscore the dire need for managerial interventions including the hiring of trained professionals, onsite training of pharmacy staff, initiation of clinical or patient centered pharmacy services, evaluation of patient`s response towards the services and appropriate controlling measures, irrespective to the type of hospitals.
评估患者对药剂科服务的满意度对于确保医疗质量至关重要。它有助于确定需要改进的领域，以提供高质量的药剂科服务，确保提供增强的药学服务。本研究旨在确定沙特阿拉伯王国门诊药房患者对药剂科服务的满意度程度。
这是一项基于医院的横断面研究，共纳入 2020 年 1 月 1 日至 2 月 15 日期间在各公立医院门诊药房就诊的 746 名患者。使用包含 23 个项目的问卷，提取研究对象的社会人口统计学特征及其对门诊药房的满意度信息。这些问题分为两个领域，包括 7 个与药房设施相关的问题（问题 1F 至 7F）和 8 个与药房服务相关的问题（问题 1S 至 8S），其中 F 和 S 分别表示设施和服务。通过 5 项李克特量表评估累积满意度评分，每个项目的最高得分为 5 分。使用适当的统计学方法评估人口统计学与满意度评分之间的关系。
患者中男性占优势（58.8%）。总体满意度评分为 2.97 ± 0.65。患者对药房服务的满意度评分（平均得分：3.91 ± 0.77）低于对药房设施的满意度评分（平均得分：4.03 ± 0.66）。在分析过程中，与患者咨询相关的项目（3F、2S、3S、6S）得分最低。年龄较大的患者（p = 0.006）、男性（p<0.001）、沙特国籍（0.035）、在初级保健中心就诊的患者（p = 0.02）和患有慢性病的患者的满意度评分明显较低。
本研究报告称，在门诊药房就诊的患者的满意度水平较低，且在不同的社会人口统计学群体中存在差异。大约一半的患者对门诊药房服务不满意。这些发现强调了管理干预的迫切需要，包括招聘经过培训的专业人员、对药剂科工作人员进行现场培训、启动以临床或患者为中心的药学服务、评估患者对服务的反应以及采取适当的控制措施，无论医院类型如何。
