Patient Preference and Adherence (Aug 2022)
Public Perceptions About Home Delivery of Medication Service and Factors Associated with the Utilization of This Service
Abstract
Rana Abu-Farha,1 Karem H Alzoubi,2,3 Mai Rizik,1 Samar Karout,4 Rania Itani,4 Tareq Mukattash,3 Eman Alefishat5– 7 1Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman, 11931, Jordan; 2Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacotherapeutics, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; 3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan; 4Pharmacy Practice Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon; 5Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Health Science, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 6Center for Biotechnology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; 7Department Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Jordan, Amman, JordanCorrespondence: Eman Alefishat, Email [email protected]: Home medication delivery service is a major service for the public. It reduces overcrowding and unnecessary visits to health centers. This study aims to investigate the public perception of home delivery of medication service in Jordan and evaluate factors affecting the use of this service.Methods: The study was conducted in March 2022 using an online survey. Participants were asked to fill out a validated questionnaire to evaluate their perception of home delivery of medication service.Results: Among the 1032 adult participated in this study, the majority reported that they had heard of home delivery of medication service (n = 832, 80.6%). However, only 30.9% of them have used this service before. Results showed that 71.4% of the participants (n = 737) believe that home delivery of medication service is more convenient and accessible than in-store drug refill. In addition, 65.6% of the participants (n = 677) believed that home delivery of medication service is suitable only for refill-prescription drugs (65.0%). The main pros of the service as perceived by the study participants were to serve sick patients, elderly, and disabled people (n = 822, 79.7%). In contrast, the inability of patients to build a professional relationship with pharmacists using home delivery of medications service was the most perceived con of this service (n = 627, 60.8%). Finally, regression analysis revealed that older participants, those with chronic diseases, and those who visit community pharmacies two times or more per month revealed higher use of the service (P = < 0.05).Conclusion: This study has shown that most participants showed positive perceptions toward the home delivery of medication services. However, participants believed that this service may decrease pharmacist’s patient contact time, thus affecting the quality of medication counseling. More comprehensive future studies are necessary to examine the financial aspects of such a service and its associated drawbacks.Keywords: community pharmacy, home delivery of medication, perception, public, Jordan
