LAUSR

The quality of community pharmacy services in Vietnam still lags behind the developed countries. The objective of this study was to identify factors that affect the overall satisfaction of customers visiting community pharmacies in Vietnam. A cross–sectional survey of a consecutive sample of 354 customers at 13 randomly selected community pharmacies in five districts in Hanoi, Vietnam was conducted. Data were collected in the field through structured questionnaires consisting of three questions related to customer demographics and 33 items related to customer satisfaction. Customers were asked to rate specific issues concerning their satisfaction on a five point-Likert scale. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's alpha on this data. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used for data analysis. Out of 450 questionnaires distributed, 354 questionnaires were completed (78.6%). The findings indicated that five main factors affecting customer satisfaction towards community pharmacy services were: 1) attitude and communication of the pharmacy staff/pharmacist, 2) consultation on medication and disease, 3) facilities and convenience, 4) availability and a variety of drugs, 5) pricing. The attitude and communication of the pharmacist was the important factor affecting overall satisfaction (beta coefficient=0.207). Besides, availability and a variety of drugs also had an influence on customer satisfaction in the Vietnamese context. Multiple regression analysis yielded the five main factors explaining 41.5% of total satisfaction. The interventional solution on attitude and communication of the pharmacist should be considered and implemented to improve customer satisfaction in Vietnamese community pharmacies.