Current Practices and Perceived Roles in Service Provision by Community Pharmacists for Diabetes Care and Prevention in Malaysia

Objectives Given the scarcity of literature on community pharmacist-led practices in Malaysia, the main objective of this study was to identify the current practices of community pharmacists in diabetes care and prevention services. This study also assessed the perceived roles of community pharmacists in these services, as well as the associated characteristics of community pharmacists and community pharmacies. Methods A self-administered questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was carried out among community pharmacists in Malaysia. Purposive sampling technique was applied, and subsequent analyses included descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression. Key findings: A total of 339 (94.7%) participants responded, with 80.2% (n = 272) perceiving diabetes care and prevention services as a community pharmacist role. However, only 43.1% (n = 146) were frequently involved in such services. The most common practices include blood glucose monitoring (77.6%, n = 263) with result explanations (74.0%, n = 251) and anti-diabetic medication preparation (65.8%, n = 223). Community pharmacists who worked in single or group proprietor-owned pharmacies (OR: 9.657, 95% CI: 2.352–39.649) were 9.66 times more likely to be involved in current diabetes care and prevention services than those in other settings. Similarly, those serving over 100 monthly customers purchasing oral anti-diabetic medications (OR: 11.224, 95% CI: 5.35-23.546) had an 11.22 times greater likelihood of involvement in such services. Conclusion The highly perceived role of community pharmacists in diabetes care and prevention in this study suggests their readiness and willingness to engage in services related to these. This underscores the need for evidence-based policy strategies and further research to identify and address existing barriers to service provision, ensuring optimal integration of pharmacists in diabetes management frameworks.