Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Applying Q-methodology to study customer satisfaction with quality of community pharmacy services in Vietnam

Van De Tran^1,2 , Valeria Valeryevna Dorofeeva¹

¹Department of Pharmaceutical Management and Economics, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow 117198, Russia; ²Faculty of Medicine, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho 902490, Vietnam.

For correspondence:- Van De Tran Email: vandepro@gmail.com Tel:+79851927647

Accepted: 24 October 2018 Published: 30 November 2018

Citation: De Tran V, Dorofeeva VV. Applying Q-methodology to study customer satisfaction with quality of community pharmacy services in Vietnam. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(11):2281-2289 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i11.25

© 2018 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 determine the pattern of customers’ viewpoints regarding their satisfaction with the quality of services of community pharmacies in Vietnam.

Methods: Q-methodology was applied to identify distinct patterns of subjective perception on community pharmacy services. A Q-sample of 40 statements was developed following a review of the literature. The study recruited 144 customers from 40 pharmacies in four Vietnamese cities. They were required to sort 40 statements into a quasi-normal distribution grid according to their degree of satisfaction with the quality of community pharmacy services. Data collected were analyzed using PQ Method software version 2.35.

Results: This study identified three factors indicating three patterns of perspectives concerning customer satisfaction on the quality of community pharmacy services: Factor 1: accessibility of the community pharmacy; Factor 2: availability of medication consultations; Factor 3: accessibility of medicines.

Conclusion: There are three main patterns of viewpoints concerning customer satisfaction with community pharmacy services in Vietnam. The findings should contribute to improving the understanding of pharmaceutical policymakers and pharmacy staff regarding customer satisfaction with current pharmaceutical services.

Keywords: Community pharmacy, Customer satisfaction, Q-methodology, Pharmaceutical policymakers, Pharmacy staff