Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Assessing consumer preference using community pharmacy preference evaluation questionnaire (ComPETe): A pilot survey in a Malaysia City

Shazwani Shaharuddin¹, Ashikin Zamaludin², Rosnani Hashim², Muhammad Abdul Hadi³, Long Chiau Ming^1,4

¹Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Alam; ²Faculty of Pharmacy, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS); ³School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Sunway, Selangor; ⁴Brain Degeneration and Therapeutic Group, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences CoRE, UiTM, Shah Alam, Malaysia.

For correspondence:- Long Ming Email: long@puncakalam.uitm.edu.my Tel:+60332584775

Received: 20 February 2015 Accepted: 8 June 2015 Published: 29 July 2015

Citation: Shaharuddin S, Zamaludin A, Hashim R, Hadi MA, Ming LC. Assessing consumer preference using community pharmacy preference evaluation questionnaire (ComPETe): A pilot survey in a Malaysia City. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(7):1299-1303 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i7.25

© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the consumer preference for community pharmacy (CP) for filling prescription, and purchasing over-the-counter (OTC) and health products among customers frequenting eight departmental stores located in a Malaysian city.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Wakaf Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. A total of 400 respondents in the area were randomly selected to participate in the 14-item Community Pharmacy Preference Evaluation Questionnaire (ComPETe). The results were then subjected to data analysis.

Results: A total of 198 respondents returned the questionnaire but only 120 respondents completely filled in them. Majority of the respondents was between the age of 18 and 30 years (42.4 %), female (55.0 %) and married (66.7 %). Most of them (90.8 %) agreed that location is an important criterion for choosing a CP. About 62 and 56 % of the respondents went to the same preferred CP and at least once a month, respectively. Interestingly, customers with a monthly income of <RM 1000 (equivalent to USD 280) and married were more likely to visit the same preferred CP (p < 0.05). More than half of the respondents preferred heavily subsidized medical treatment for minor ailments from government healthcare institutions. For OTC products, preference among consumers was almost the same among CPs and local stores. With regard to health supplements and screening test kits, most respondents preferred to go to CPs.

Conclusion: The respondents showed variability in their preference for CPs. The findings about consumer preference for CPs and health products should facilitate the process of launching a successful CP establishment.

Keywords: Consumer satisfaction, Community pharmacy preference, Prescription filling, Over-the-counter products, Financial management