Assessing Quality of Self Medication Services in Pharmacies in Indonesia: A Pilot Study using Mystery Customer in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

Abstract

Self-medication practice is currently increasing in global population. Apart from the benefits, it is undeniable that self-medication can also have several negative impacts. The outcome of self-medication is affected by pharmacist’s clinical ability to provide self-medication services to the patient. This study was aimed to assess the quality of self-medication services in Indonesia using mystery customer approach. A pilot project had been conducted in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Mystery customers act as patients who come to the pharmacy seeking self-medication medications for cough/common cold, diarrhea/constipation, pain/fever, and gastritis cases. A total 232 pharmacies were involved in this study and selected through stratified random sampling. The quality of self-medication services was measured by four subdomains: patient assessment, the accuracy of drug selection, the drug information provided to mystery customer, and lifestyle modification counselling. Result showed that patient assessment regarding signs and symptoms only performed by 42,82% pharmacies in Bandung, 14,44% assessed pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapy prior to visit, and only 10,56% assessed patients’ specific medical condition. Although the percentage of patient assessment performed by pharmacies in Bandung were low, interestingly the accuracy of drug selection is relatively high (85,34%). The most prevalent information provided to patient was instruction to consume the medication (59,09%), meanwhile the least delivered information was about side effect (5,17%). Information about lifestyle modification only delivered by 10,34% pharmacies. The quality of self-medication services in Bandung varies depending on the type of pharmacy and service provider. State-owned pharmacy has a higher overall score of self-medication service than private retail pharmacy and private standalone pharmacy (p<0,05). Based on the service provider, pharmacist have a higher score of self-medication service compared to pharmacy technicians and other personnel in pharmacies (p<0,05). This study emphasizes the importance of the pharmacist’s role in self-medication services to ensure rational and safe treatment for patients.