Environmental and personal barriers encountered in community pharmacy settings based on public opinions

Aim: We aimed in this study to assess the potential environmental and personal barriers encountered in the community pharmacies in Jordan. Methods: A validated self-administered survey was distributed online to 721 participants from all regions in Jordan. Results: All approached participants (721 subjects) answered the survey. The most common environmental and personal barriers reported were that community pharmacies were not disabled patients friendly (59.4%) and pharmacist’s low self-confidence (80.4%), respectively. Socioeconomic characteristics such as being male, married, receiving lower income and having higher educational degrees, were associated with an increase in reported personal communication barriers. Conclusion: Our study indicated that environmental and personal barriers are prevalent in the community pharmacy practice, which could impact the quality of pharmaceutical services provided. Plain language summary: This study aimed to evaluate the environmental and personal barriers encountered in the community pharmacy settings in Jordan through utilizing a validated online self-administered survey that was distributed to 721 participants from all areas in Jordan. The study found that participants median age of 30 (28–33) years old and the most common physical and personal barriers reported were that community pharmacies were not friendly for patients with disability (59.4%) and pharmacist’s low self-confidence (80.4%), respectively. This study concluded that both physical and personal barriers are prevalent in the community pharmacy practice.