Assessment of patient satisfaction with pharmacy service and associated factors at community pharmacies in Debre Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia

Background One of the main ways to assess how well healthcare is being delivered is through patient satisfaction. When visiting community pharmacy, patients express a clear desire for high-quality care. But if their needs aren't well identified, the patient could not be satisfied. When a patient is happy with their pharmaceutical care, they are more likely to follow through on their prescription regimens, seek out medical assistance, and adhere to it. One strategy to raise customer satisfaction with healthcare services is to make quality pharmacies more accessible. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to assess patient satisfaction with pharmacy services at a community pharmacy in Debre Tabor city, North West Ethiopia, 2024. Methods and materials: A cross-sectional study were conducted among 405 respondents to assess satisfaction with pharmacy service in community pharmacy located in northwestern Ethiopia from February to March 2024. Data were collected through an exit interview using structured questionnaires. Then, it was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to Spss version 23 for analysis. Associations between dependent and independent variables were assessed by multiple logistic regression using an adjusted odds ratio at a 95% confidence interval and the p values of less than 0.05. Result Four hundred five participants agreed to finish the study. The total satisfaction rate for community pharmacy services was 62.7%. The pharmacist does not provide information on how to deal with drug side effects that may develop at any time, which was the primary source of dissatisfaction (46.4%). Client satisfaction was adversely associated with an uncomfortable waiting area (AOR = 5.67, 95% CI: 1.18–27.22), an unfair medicine cost (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.90–2.82), and Age (AOR = 9.55, 95% CI: 3.17–28.80). Conclusion The level of customer satisfaction with pharmacy services was reported to be greater than 50%. The area of residence, educational status, and drug availability have no association with their level of satisfaction, but their perception of uncomfortable waiting areas, unfair medication costs were negatively associated with their satisfaction.