ArticleBMC health services research2023
Practice of pharmaceutical care by community pharmacists in response to self-medication request for a cough: a simulated client study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward self-medication for common cold and influenza: A COM-B model-based cross-sectional study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Community pharmacists' history taking practice in responding to acute uncomplicated cystitis: A simulated patient study from Sudan.PloS one · 2026Article
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use by patients: Impact of modular educational training on pharmacists' questioning, counselling and risk assessments.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCommunity pharmacy practice worldwide has been shifting from product-focused to patient-oriented. However, due to the absence of separation between prescribing and dispensing in Malaysia, community pharmacists may have limited roles in the provision of pharmaceutical care to patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, the main functions of community pharmacists in Malaysia are related to self-medication requests for minor ailments and the supply of non-prescription medications. The objective of this study was to determine the practice of pharmaceutical care by community pharmacists within the Klang Valley, Malaysia in response to self-medication requests for a cough.
methodsThis study utilised a simulated client method. A research assistant, acting as a simulated client, visited community pharmacies in the Klang Valley, Malaysia to consult the pharmacists on the treatment of a cough experienced by his father. Upon leaving the pharmacy premise, the simulated client entered the pharmacist's responses in a data collection form which was structured based on pharmacy mnemonics for the response to symptoms, OBRA'90 on counselling elements, the five practice principles of pharmaceutical care by the American Pharmacists Association and literature review. Visits to the community pharmacies were conducted from September to October 2018.
resultsThe simulated client visited a total of 100 community pharmacies. None of these community pharmacists practised adequate patients' data collection, with only a low proportion who practised all the components studied under medication information evaluation (13%), formulating a drug therapy plan (15%) and monitoring and modifying the plan (3%). Of the 100 community pharmacists, 98 recommended treatment but none of them provided all the counselling elements studied in implementing the drug therapy plan.
conclusionThe present study showed that community pharmacists within the Klang Valley, Malaysia were not providing adequate pharmaceutical care services to patients seeking self-medication for a cough. Such practice may compromise patient safety if inappropriate medicines or advice are given.
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