Demand for pharmacy service among rural residents in Yongzhou city:a cross-sectional survey

Objective To assess the demand for pharmacy service among rural residents and to provide theoretical guidance for effective pharmacy service in rural grassroots.Methods Totally 6 145 residents were selected from 28 villages or towns of 11 counties or districts in Yongzhou city,Hunan province and were surveyed with a questionnaire about pharmacy service.Results Among 13 factors in demand for pharmacy service,individual's health condition,education on reasonable medication,the choice of a variety of drugs,reduction of medication cost,and medication dosage were major elements,with the relative weight of 17.32%,15.27%,13.08%,12.25%,and 10.49%,respectively,and contributing to more than 62 percentage of the total variance.There were differences in major demands for pharmacy service among the residents at various age;the residents aged 30 to 39 years had a higher demand for knowledge about side effect of medication than the residents at age of 40 years or older(χ²=4.58,P<0.05) and the residents aged 60 years or more had higher demands for choice of a variety of drugs and reduction of medication cost than the residents younger than 60 years(χ²=7.61 and 6.86,P<0.01 for all).Conclusion Rural residents in Yongzhou city are lack of knowledge on the rational medication and need pharmacy service for safe,reasonable,effective,and economic medication urgently.