Patients' Preference For Community Pharmacists' Attire: A Cross-Sectional Study In Enugu State, Nigeria
Keywords:
attire, community pharmacists, patients, preference, NigeriaAbstract
Background: Clothing protects, decorates, identifies, unites and displays status. What a pharmacist wears could set the stage for further interaction with a patient and project a professional image. This study evaluated patients' preference for community pharmacists' attire.
Method: It was a cross-sectional survey conducted in community pharmacies in University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) campus and Enugu urban, Enugu State, Nigeria (June to July, 2018). Volunteer participants viewed six sets of photographs of the same male and female pharmacist pair in different attires. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Version 21.0. Descriptive statistics summarized data. Inferential statistics utilized the Pearson Chi-Square test, with statistical significance set at P < 0.05.
Results: Three hundred and sixty-six respondents were conveniently sampled from UNN and Enugu urban. More UNN respondents (59.6%) were between 20-29 years old compared to Enugu urban (37.1%). Most of the respondents were female (60.6%), students (55.5%), and had secondary/university education as their highest qualification (83.9%). Generally, respondents preferred formal business attire pharmacists dressed in a white coat.
More than half of the UNN respondents felt that the pharmacist-pair in formal business attire with a white coat was most professional (78.2% vs. 66.3%; ?2= 16.224, P = 0.006) and knowledgeable (63.8% vs. 42.1%; ?2= 19.734, P = 0.001), compared to Enugu urban.
Conclusion: Generally, the respondents felt the pharmacist-pair in formal business attire with white coat was the most professional, knowledgeable, competent to handle the prescription needs, approachable and preferred. More of the respondents in the University of Nigeria Nsukka campus felt that the pharmacist-pair in formal business attire with a white coat was most professional and knowledgeable compared to those in Enugu urban.
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