Objectives: The objectives of this study are to understand the community pharmacists’ perceptions, attitudes and practices towards pharmaceutical care of Chinese medicine, and to further explore the related factors affecting the results.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study across Taichung city. This research design was reviewed and approved by the China Medical University & Hospital Research Ethics Committee(/CMUH105-REC3-107). A structural questionnaire was designed and validated to be used as the study instrument. It was distributed among 793 qualified community pharmacists who are working in Taichung City, Taiwan.
Results: Out of 306 questionnaires received, 260 questionnaires were valid which gave a response rate of 38.34%. The study showed that most of the community pharmacists were involved in the provision of over-the-counter Chinese medicine products during their daily practices. Respondents generally showed positive attitude towards Chinese medicine pharmaceutical care, but in terms of business involvement, they perform business with passive practices. According to the statistical results, respondents' practices were significantly different in three categories: the pharmacist’s education level (p<0.001), training received by pharmacists on Chinese medicine to an appropriate level (p<0.05) and the number of Chinese medicine product (varieties) available in pharmacies (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Pharmacists are aware of their role as educators about both Chinese medicine and conventional medicine. Hence, there is a need for greater access to Chinese medicine resources and education on related field to help pharmacists to excel in Chinese medicine. These would enable pharmacists to provide competent, effective and holistic patient care to the communities.
