Journal article

Provision of the emergency contraceptive pill without prescription: Attitudes and practices of pharmacists in Australia

SY Hussainy, K Stewart, CB Chapman, AJ Taft, LH Amir, MK Hobbs, JM Shelley, AM Smith

Contraception | ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC | Published : 2011

Abstract

Background: As 5 years have elapsed since the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) was made available without prescription in Australia, information was sought about the current attitudes and practices of pharmacists in relation to their increased role in ECP provision. Study Design: A mail survey was implemented; questionnaires were distributed to 750 pharmacies across Australia during 2008-2009. Descriptive statistics were calculated and multiple logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with declining to dispense ECP. Results: Response rate was 29%. Most pharmacists used a protocol to guide ECP dispensing (77.3%) and the majority had declined ECP provision (75.1%) in certai..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This study was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant in partnership with Sexual Health & Family Planning Australia (SH&FPA). We would like to thank the Pharmacy Guild of Australia for providing the database of a random sample of community pharmacies in Australia, the pharmacists for their valuable time and effort in completing the questionnaire, Kate Dobson for entering the data, and Lyn Watson for her statistical advice and for conducting the multiple logistic regression analysis.