Work

Self-Reported Provision of Community Pharmacy Services and Perceived Barriers in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Community pharmacists can broaden access to medication-related, preventive, and screening services, but implementation in Saudi Arabia remains uneven. This study described self-reported counselling and extended-service provision, perceived barriers, and statistical relationships between pharmacist- and practice-level characteristics and reported service delivery. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey included 600 community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia; an independent pilot included 50 pharmacists. The instrument assessed seven counselling practices, eight extended services, and thirteen barriers. Group comparisons used chi-square or Fisher–Freeman–Halton exact tests with false-discovery-rate adjustment, and threshold-specific logistic regression models evaluated service provision. Results: Agreement with counselling practices ranged from 78.7% to 91.3%. Frequent provision was low for vaccination (6.0%), cholesterol screening (8.2%), glucose screening (10.5%), and blood pressure assessment (11.7%). Leading barriers were insufficient public awareness (66.3%), limited patient time (64.5%), lack of medical-record access (58.3%), inadequate privacy (56.5%), and weak primary-care integration (54.7%). Educational qualification did not show an independent adjusted relationship with extended-service provision. Selected service outcomes differed across practice-setting categories, and exploratory analyses identified an inverse statistical relationship between perceived barriers and extended-service provision. Conclusions: Routine counselling was commonly reported, whereas most extended services were infrequent. Expanding community pharmacy services requires attention to workflow, staffing, privacy, patient information, public awareness, referral pathways, and health-system integration.

Source: Healthcare

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare14203410

Authors: Emtenan M. Alharbi, Manal M. Alharbi, Amal Qassim Aldarwesh, Moureq Alotaibi, Arwa Omar Bafail, Rawabi Rashed Alsaegh

Institution: King Saud University

Language: English

Topic: Pharmacy and Medical Practices

Subfield: Pharmacology

Field: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,258