title: Community pharmacists' perceptions about pharmaceutical service of over-the-counter traditional Chinese medicine: a survey study in Harbin of China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aims to investigate community pharmacist's perception on the provision of over-the-counter (OTC) traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmaceutical services; focusing on the areas of their attitude, general practice, perceived barriers and suggested improvements.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire survey targeting community pharmacists in Harbin of China was applied in this study. Questionnaires were distributed and collected at community pharmacies. Data was analyzed by combining descriptive analysis and Chi-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  280 valid questionnaires were collected, giving a response rate of 78%. Respondents generally showed positive attitude towards OTC TCM pharmaceutical services. However, they were uncertain about whether such pharmaceutical services should be considered as their primary responsibility. Respondents indicated that they acted proactively to find out all the medicines taken by their patients and to remind consumers of possible OTC TCM adverse reactions. However, they were less keen on recommending or re-directing consumers to suitable OTC TCM. The three main barriers hindering the provision of OTC TCM pharmaceutical service identified in this study were "insufficient professional knowledge" (54.6%), "ambiguity of the professional role of pharmacists" (54.6%) and "lack of scientific evidence of OTC TCM" (45.4%). The three main actions considered most relevant to improving pharmaceutical service of OTC TCM were "formulating or refining legislation to clarify the legal and professional role of pharmacists with respect to TCM" (60.7%), "strengthening training of pharmacists with respect to TCM" (57.9%), and "promoting public awareness of the pharmacist's role" (53.6%). According to the results of Chi-test, respondents' perceptions about the attitude, practice, perceived barriers, and improvement suggestions were significantly different depending on the education levels, certificate types and workloads of western medicine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The community pharmacists in Harbin, China were positive about the provision of OTC TCM pharmaceutical services. However, they were less certain about taking this duty as their primary responsibility. Insufficient knowledge and lack of role definition in the area of OTC TCM were found to be the major factors discouraging the provision of pharmaceutical service on OTC TCM by community pharmacists.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
authors.forename: Menghuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
authors.forename: Carolina Oi Lam
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Ung
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Vivian Wing-Yan
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
authors.forename: Yuanjia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China. haohu@umac.mo.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9441-106X
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000032:analysis; D010465:Perception; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000523:psychology*; D024382:Professional Role; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs
keywords: China; Community pharmacist; Community pharmacy; Over-the-counter; Pharmaceutical service; TCM; Traditional Chinese medicine