Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Drive-thru Community Pharmacy Services Questionnaire

Abstract

The Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Drive-thru Community Pharmacy Services (DTCPS) Survey, developed by Ababneh, Ong, and Hussain in 2023, is a specialized psychometric questionnaire designed to gauge the Malaysian public’s awareness, attitudes, and perceptions concerning the adoption and utilization of drive-thru services offered by community pharmacies. The development of this instrument was highly contextualized by the needs and changes observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated the need for contactless healthcare services. The scale underwent rigorous developmental phases, including extensive literature review and expert consultation from Malaysian community pharmacists and experienced lecturers at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to establish clarity and Content Validity. A subsequent pilot test refined the final 49-item measure.

The DTCPS Survey is structured into three primary sections. The initial sections collect crucial socio-demographic data and assess general public attitudes via open-ended and multiple-choice questions. The final, and primary, section utilizes a Likert scale format to explore detailed perceptions, perceived advantages, and disadvantages associated with DTCPS. Data collection focused on the general public in Malaysia, with a rapid completion time of 5–7 minutes, facilitating large-scale data gathering. Preliminary psychometric analysis indicated strong Internal Consistency, with a reported Cronbach’s alpha of 0.84.

Keywords

Attitudes Towards Drive-Thru Community Pharmacy Services, Believed Advantages and Disadvantages, COVID-19, Face Validity, Perceptions Towards Drive-Thru Community Pharmacy Services, Public Opinion, Client Attitudes, Community Services, Health Care Services, Pharmacy, Treatment Process and Outcome Measures.

Authors

Ababneh, Bayan F., Ong, Siew Chin, Hussain, Rabia.

Purpose

The central purpose of the DTCPS Survey is to systematically measure the public’s awareness level, positive attitudes, and overall perceptions regarding the implementation and use of drive-thru community pharmacy services (DTCPS). This assessment is specifically tailored to the Malaysian context, examining how these services were viewed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and their potential for long-term integration into standard healthcare delivery.

Construct

This scale measures three interconnected psychological and behavioral constructs related to healthcare service delivery innovation: Awareness (knowledge of DTCPS availability), Attitudes (predispositions or feelings towards using DTCPS, measured by multi-choice questions regarding usage patterns and support), and Perceptions (detailed beliefs and evaluations regarding the efficiency, convenience, accessibility, and professional image of DTCPS, measured primarily using a Likert scale). The instrument also captures perceived advantages and disadvantages of DTCPS compared to traditional in-store services.

Validity

Validation efforts focused on ensuring the instrument accurately covered the scope of the intended constructs. Both Face Validity and Content Validity were rigorously established. An expert panel, including experienced academics from Universiti Sains Malaysia and practicing community pharmacists in Malaysia, reviewed the questionnaire to confirm that the items were clear, relevant, and comprehensively represented the domain of attitudes and perceptions toward drive-thru pharmacy services.

Reliability

The scale demonstrated strong reliability based on measures of Internal Consistency. The overall instrument achieved a high Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.84. This value indicates that the items within the scale are highly correlated and reliably measure the underlying constructs of attitudes and perceptions toward DTCPS.

Factor Analysis

No data regarding formal Factor Analysis (e.g., Exploratory or Confirmatory Factor Analysis) or dimensional structure is currently available in the source documentation.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: Items are rated using multiple-choice, open-ended questions, and five-point Likert-scale response options (for perception items).

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human (Male; Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older), including Young Adulthood (18–29 years), Thirties (30–39 years), and Middle Age (40–64 years)

Population Details: Location: Malaysia. Respondents: General Public.

Test Methodology: Test Validity, Content Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency

Keywords

Attitudes, Drive-Thru Services, Community Pharmacy, Perceptions, Public Health, Healthcare Innovation, Malaysia, COVID-19 Pandemic, Psychometrics.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Ababneh, Bayan F.: orcid.org/0000-0002-6223-5599

• Ong, Siew Chin: orcid.org/0000-0002-9750-9588

• Hussain, Rabia: orcid.org/0000-0001-8183-0855

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Ong, Siew Chin: [email protected]

• Hussain, Rabia: [email protected]

Correspondence Address:

• Ong, Siew Chin: [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The DTCPS Survey is generally available for use in academic and research settings. Permissions and usage details are as follows:

• Permissions: May use for Research/Teaching.

• Commercial Use: No

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2023

• Web Site: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

Reference’s

• Ababneh, B. F., Ong, S. C., & Hussain, R. (2023). Awareness, attitudes, and perceptions of drive-thru community pharmacy services among the general public in Malaysia during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 18(3), Article e0282991. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282991

• Liew, Y. J., Lim, H. Y., Lim, Y. C., Liew, P. W., Leong, W. S., Tan, S. Y., & Lee, S. C. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards COVID-19 during the MCO among the general public in Malaysia. Journal of Public Health and Clinical Pharmacy, 10(1), 1-10.

• Liana, L. K., & Hasnah, M. N. (2015). Patients’ perceptions on pharmacy services in Kuala Lumpur. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research, 30(1), 11-17.

• Abu Hammour, A. A., Al-Amer, R. M., Al-Jarrah, A. F., & Al-Hammouri, S. A. (2019). Perception and attitude of the public toward community pharmacy services in Jordan. Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, 10(2), 175-180.

• Abu Fartha, R., Al-Amer, R., & Al-Jarrah, A. (2017). Public awareness and perception toward the role of pharmacists in Jordan. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 25(2), 160-166.

• Diri, M. R. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on community pharmacy services. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 28(11), 1381-1386.

Items of the Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Drive-thru Community Pharmacy Services Questionnaire

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Drive-thru Community Pharmacy Services (DTCPS) Survey includes 49 items. Of these, 38 items specifically measure attitudes towards DTCPS and perceptions towards DTCPS, while the remaining items gather demographic information.

Sections:

• Attitudes towards drive-thru community pharmacy services

• Perceptions towards drive-thru community pharmacy services

• Believed advantages and disadvantages towards drive-thru community pharmacy services.

Test Items Available: Yes

Test Location: 2023-55275-001, Table 3, Page 10; 2023-55275-001, Table 4, Page 11; 2023-55275-001, Table 2, Pages 8-9.

Attitudes towards Drive-thru Community Pharmacy Services

• Respondents could pick more than one answer (percentage summation≠ 100%).

Number of community pharmacies visited last month

• None

• One pharmacy

• Two pharmacies

• Three or more pharmacies

Reasons to visit the community pharmacy*

• Over-the-counter medications (OTC)

• For beauty products

• Prescribed medications

• Medical device

• Medical consultation

• Kid supply

• COVID-19 prevention supplies such as masks and hygiene products

• Others

Which category will benefit the most from drive-thru community pharmacy service?

• All population

• Women

• Geriatrics

• People with disabilities

Presence of a drive-thru community pharmacy at your city

• Yes

• No

• Don’t know

If yes, have you tried drive-thru community pharmacy services?

• Yes

• No

• Not applicable

If yes, how do you evaluate your experience with drive-thru community pharmacy services?

• Excellent

• Good

• Fair

• Poor

• Not applicable

If you are going to request an order at a community pharmacy using drive-thru service, what is your preferred method to do that order?

• Through a drive-thru window

• Through WhatsApp

• Over the phone

• Online through application

• Through email

If you are going to use a drive-thru service at a community pharmacy, what is your preferred method to get information about your medications (counselling)?*

• Briefly through the drive-thru window

• Printed brochure given with the order

• Written on WhatsApp

• Verbally over the phone

• Through a personal visit

• Through email

Where did you get information regarding drive-thru community pharmacy*

• Pharmacy staff

• Doctors

• Leaflets

• Television

• Internet

• Friends or Colleagues

• Don’t know

Are you supportive to establish drive-thru services at community pharmacies?

• Yes

• No

Perceptions towards drive-thru community pharmacy services

**: Reversed coded statements.

Perceptions towards drive-thru community pharmacy services as an impact of COVID-19 or even later on

• I believe the introduction of drive-thru service makes the community pharmacy services more efficient.

• I believe that drive-thru community pharmacy service is a friendly service provided by the pharmacy during COVID-19 time or even later on.

• I believe that drive-thru community pharmacy service may improve my satisfaction with the pharmacy profession.

• I am supportive of the introduction of drive-thru service to community pharmacy practice during COVID-19 time.

• I am supportive to create community pharmacies with drive-thru services all over Malaysia.

How do you feel the image of the community pharmacists will be affected by the introduction of drive-thru services?

• Community pharmacists will appear more concerned with making money than with the health of their patients. **

• Community pharmacists will have a good balance between the health of patients and the business side of their work.

• Community pharmacists will appear more concerned with the health of patients than with the business side of their work.

Differences between the drive-thru community pharmacy services and in-store drug refill services

• The prescription might be filled more quickly in drive-thru compared to in-store refill.

• Pharmacists might be less available to answer questions using drive-thru service compared to in-store refill. **

• Written information might be less supplied using drive-thru pharmacy service compared to in-store refill. **

• Pharmacists cannot explain important points about prescriptions while providing drive-thru service compared to that in-store refill. **

• Drive-thru service provides accessibility and convenience to customers more than the in-store service, especially during COVID-19 time.

• Unlike in-store service, drive-thru service is suitable only for refill prescriptions but not for new prescriptions. **

• Unlike in-store service, drive-thru service is suitable only for OTC but not for prescriptions medications. **