Validation of Pharmaceutical Care Assessment Questionnaire (PCAQ) by Community Pharmacists - A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Background and objectives: Pharmaceutical care is characterized as the direct, responsible provision of medication-related care for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that enhance patient’s quality of life. Pharmaceutical Care Assessment Questionnaire (PCAQ) is prepared based on Pharmaceutical Care assessment by community pharmacists which was developed and validated by Nneoma et.al (2013). This study is to validate the psychometric properties of the Pharmaceutical Care Assessment Questionnaire (PCAQ) in Malaysian Community Pharmacy. The questionnaire consists of two domains which is direct patient care/current pharmacy practice (Part A) and exploring the awareness of pharmaceutical care (Part B). Method: Content validity, face validity, construct validity and reliability of PCAQ are evaluated. The questionnaire was content validated by 8 experts in the field consists of hospital pharmacists and lecturer from department pharmacy management. Face validation was conducted among 10 respondents who are community pharmacists. Whereas, from construct validity phase, 30 community pharmacists from Negeri Sembilan took part and 13 of them responded for test retest. Factorial analysis used principal component analysis and Varimax rotation. Reliability of the questionnaire were established with Cronbach’s Alpha and test-retest. Results: All the question have excellent Kappa value and only one question then with fair Kappa value. The factorial analysis showed a high correlation and communality between the questions and it proves that the questions in the instrument are able to measure the intended study topic. Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.921 and 0.686 for Part A and Part B respectively. Wilcoxon non-parametric test result showed no significant difference between test and retest score for all the items. Conclusion: The questionnaire is a valid and reliable assessment tool to assess on pharmaceutical care provided by community pharmacists in Malaysia. Further study is required in order to make use of the questionnaire throughout the nation.