Comparison of factors influencing patient choice of community pharmacy in Poland and in the UK, and identification of components of pharmaceutical care

Figures & data

Table 1 Codes used in the logistic regression

Codes	0	1
Country	PL	UK
Sex	Male	Female
Age	>39 years	<40 years
University	Up to secondary	University
Married	No	Yes
Student	No	Yes
Health care worker	No	Yes
White collar worker	No	Yes
Rural area ≤100,000 inhabitants	No	Yes
Frequency of visits to pharmacy	Less frequent	1–2 times a week
Loyalty, visiting the same pharmacy	No	Yes and rather yes
# of prescriptions/month	<3	>3

Abbreviations: PL, Poland; UK, United Kingdom.

Table 2 Demographic characteristics of the surveyed groups

Demographic characteristics	Poland (N=417)		UK (N=405)		P-value
	#	Proportion (%)	#	Proportion (%)
Sex					NS
Women	308	74	282	70
Men	109	26	123	30
Age groups (years)					<0.001
15–19	8	2	29	7
20–29	271	65	108	27
30–39	62	15	75	19
40–49	34	8	79	19
50–59	28	7	62	15
≥60	14	3	52	13
Marital status					<0.001
Married	136	33	217	54
Single	261	63	153	38
Widow/widower	7	2	13	3
Divorced	10	2	22	5
Employment					<0.001
Health service	55	13	131	32
Professional/education	145	35	80	20
Businessman/woman	20	5	35	9
Physical worker	26	6	94	23
Student	151	37	42	10
Pensioner	16	4	23	6
Education					<0.001
Up to, including secondary school	204	49	326	81
Higher education and above	212	51	79	19
Place of residence					<0.001
Village	60	14	118	29
Town: population up to 100,000	112	27	183	45
City: population 100,000–500,000	73	18	89	22
City: population >500,000	171	41	14	4

Abbreviations: NS, not significant; UK, United Kingdom; N, number in each country.

Figure 1 Probability of visiting a pharmacy because of flu and flu-like symptoms by country and age (proportion of respondents).

Abbreviations: PL, Poland; UK, United Kingdom.

Figure 2 Probability of filling ≥ three prescriptions per month by country, age of respondent, and loyalty to pharmacy (proportion of respondents). Continous line indicates loyal clients (often visiting the same pharmacy) and broken line (those who do not often visit the same pharmacy).

Abbreviations: PL, Poland; UK, United Kingdom.

Figure 3 Loyalty to a single pharmacy according to sex, age, and education (university degree, yes/no) (proportion of respondents). Continuous line indicates clients with university degree and broken line indicates those who have education below university.

Table 3 Profile of reported factors influencing the choice of a pharmacy in Poland and the UK

Factor	Poland (N=417)	Total n	UK (N=405)	Total n	P-value
Good advice received in pharmacy ([% {n}])	68 (269)	397	88 (350)	400	<0.001
Possibility of discussing personal health issues in private consultation room ([% {n}])	50 (194)	389	81 (323)	397	<0.001
Aesthetic decoration of pharmacy ([% {n}])	65 (260)	397	58 (230)	400	<0.042
Professional service ([% {n}])	85 (340)	399	92 (365)	397	<0.004
Location ([% {n}])	88 (350)	397	90 (360)	400	NS
Good price on medicines ([% {n}])	82 (327)	397	71 (283)	396	<0.001
Promotions on medicines ([% {n}])	70 (275)	393	60 (230)	386	NS

Abbreviations: NS, not significant; UK, United Kingdom; N, number in each country; n, number.

Figure 4 Evaluation of the strength of influence of the following factors.

Notes: (A) Good advice offered in pharmacy. (B) Possibility of discussing personal health issues in a private consultation room. (C) Decoration of the pharmacy and appearance of pharmacy staff. (D) Professional service. (E) Convenient location of the pharmacy. (F) Good price of medicines. (G) Promotions on medicines.
Abbreviations: PL, Poland; UK, United Kingdom.

Table 4 Factors influencing choice of pharmacy, as evaluated by logistic regression analysis

Dependent							95% CI for OR
Factor	Predictors	B	SE	Wald’s chi^Citation2	P<	OR	Lower	Upper	R^2	H–L
Good advice	Country	1.141	0.248	21.241	0.001	3.131	1.927	5.088
	Constant	0.994	0.146	46.196	0.001	2.703			7.3
Possibility of discussing personal health issues in private consultation room	Country	1.478	0.214	47.713	0.001	4.385	2.883	6.67
	Constant	0.182	0.132	1.904	0.168	1.2			14.2
Aesthetic decoration of the pharmacy	Country	−0.424	0.193	4.81	0.028	0.655	0.448	0.956
	Often	0.795	0.3	7.022	0.008	2.214	1.23	3.984
	Constant	0.649	0.138	22.172	0.001	1.914			2.7	0.86
Professional service	Country	0.666	0.322	4.291	0.038	1.947	1.037	3.655
	Constant	2.01	0.201	99.771	0.001	7.464			1.9
Location of pharmacy	Health care	0.897	0.432	4.317	0.038	2.451	1.052	5.711
	White collar	1.679	0.54	9.675	0.002	5.362	1.861	15.449
	Constant	1.84	0.185	99.288	0.001	6.294			6.8	1
Good price on medicines	Country	−0.561	0.236	5.682	0.017	0.57	0.36	0.905
	White collar	0.614	0.283	4.691	0.03	1.847	1.06	3.218
	Often	1.105	0.403	7.513	0.006	3.018	1.37	6.65
	Constant	1.352	0.193	48.87	0.001	3.866			5.9	0.45
Promotions on medicines	Country	−0.523	0.163	10,307	0.001	0.593	0.431	0.816
	Sex	0.604	0.172	12,272	0.000	1.829	1.305	2.564
	Often	0.833	0.285	8,513	0.004	2.300	1.314	4.024
	Loyalty	0.420	0.166	6,418	0.011	1.522	1.100	2.106
	Constant	0.091	0.192	0,225	0.635	1.095			6.9	0.74

Note: Country is included as a potential predictor.

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; H–L, Hosmer–Lemeshow test; SE, standard error.

HeplerCDStrandLMOpportunities and responsibilities in pharmaceutical careAm J Hosp Pharm19904735335432316538

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