Attitudes towards dispensing errors among state pharmacists and dispensers in Jaffna district

Abstract

Attitudes towards dispensing errors are important for reducing medication errors and improve pharmaceutical care. This study was conducted to see the attitude of state pharmacists and dispensers in Jaffna district towards dispensing errors and the influencing factors on it. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A pre tested, validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and chi-square test using SPSS version 23. Among 121 participants, 114 (94.2%) participants responded. Mean age of participants was 35.4±8.3 years and most of them were females (60.5%). Of the participants, 41.2% (n=47) of participants were pharmacists and rest were dispensers. Cut off value used for attitude towards dispensing errors was 50%. More than half of participants (61.4%) had positive attitude towards dispensing errors. Factors which influence were assessed by Chi square test and P value > 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. There was no statistically significant influence of socio-demographic factors on attitudes regarding dispensing errors. Among work related factors, position (pharmacist/dispenser) of participants (p<0.001), working experience in current station (p=0.046) and preparing extemporaneous preparation (p=0.02) showed statistically significant association on attitudes towards dispensing errors. Though majority of the pharmacists and dispensers in Jaffna district have positive attitude regarding dispensing errors, it is a necessity to improve attitudes to meet to world standards. Therefore awareness and continuous professional education programmes need to be initiated for pharmacists and dispensers.