Community pharmacists' perceptions, attitudes and barriers towards pharmacist-led minor ailment services in Malaysia

Background Community pharmacists are increasingly recognized to have an important role in providing a convenient and accessible alternative support for patients with minor ailments. In view of the abilities of community pharmacists in managing minor ailments, some countries have started the pharmacy-based minor ailment schemes that offers public access to treatment and advice of minor ailments from their local pharmacist. Nevertheless, there is limited study in Malaysia that explore the current practice of community pharmacists in managing minor ailment. Objective This study aims to evaluate community pharmacists' perceptions, attitudes and barriers of pharmacist-led minor ailment services. Setting Community pharmacists in Malaysia. Methods A cross-sectional survey among community pharmacists practicing in Malaysia was conducted between December 2017 until March 2018. The self-administered survey was distributed online via email, Facebook and WhatsApp's group. Main outcome measure Community pharmacists' perceptions, attitude and barriers towards minor-ailment service in community pharmacy settings. Results A total of 305 community pharmacists had completed the survey. The majority of community pharmacists in Malaysia had positive perceptions and attitudes towards pharmacist-led minor ailment services. The most common perceived barriers were lack of patient's medical information, absence of dispensing separation and lack of support from other healthcare professionals. Ethnicity, position and years of working experience were found to have significant associations with community pharmacists' score of attitudes and barriers related to minor ailment treatment in community pharmacy settings. Conclusion Community pharmacists in Malaysia have positive perceptions and attitudes over benefits of minor ailment services to public, however the barriers towards the service must be overcome to ensure service is sustainable for public's benefits.