title: Community pharmacy services in the United Arab Emirates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the type and frequency of services provided through community pharmacies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was conducted using an anonymous questionnaire distributed by hand to 700 community pharmacies. Items included information about the pharmacists and pharmacies, type of products sold, type and extent of enhanced services provided and perceived barriers to providing these services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most pharmacies provided a wide range of medicinal and non-medicinal products. The frequency with which services were provided was assessed on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always). Enhanced professional services were not provided to a large extent in most pharmacies. Fewer than one-third (29%) reported they always supplied printed information to patients (mean = 3.37, 95% confidence interval = 3.23-3.52); fewer than one-third (28%) counselled patients on a regular basis (3.25, 3.09-3.40); nearly two-thirds (62%) reported monitoring patients' adherence to therapy at least sometimes (2.96, 2.81-3.10). Most pharmacies (92%) in the UAE did not routinely keep patient records (2.09, 1.96-2.32). While just over a quarter of respondents claimed that they always reported medication errors (27%) and adverse drug reactions (28%), these activities were not often performed in around 40% of pharmacies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to explore the type and extent of professional services provided through community pharmacies in the UAE and provides baseline data critical to inform the development of strategies to improve the quality of community pharmacy services.
authors: Department of Math and Statistics, College of Pharmacy, Sharjah University, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors: Sanah
authors: S
authors: Hasan
authors: Hana
authors: H
authors: Sulieman
authors: Colin B
authors: CB
authors: Chapman
authors: Kay
authors: K
authors: Stewart
authors: David C M
authors: DC
authors: Kong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008508:Medication Errors; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D024382:Professional Role; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014479:United Arab Emirates; D055815:Young Adult