Pharmacy access to emergency contraception: Perspectives of pharmacists at a chain pharmacy in San Francisco.

OBJECTIVE

To assess pharmacists' perception of their role in dispensing emergency contraception (EC) in San Francisco.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Community chain pharmacies in San Francisco during summer 2002.

PARTICIPANTS

76 Walgreens community pharmacists.

INTERVENTIONS: Self-administered survey mailed to all pharmacists (n = 122) working in all Walgreens units (n = 49) in San Francisco.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pharmacists' attitudes regarding EC provision. Variations in sociodemographic, training, and practice characteristics were tested using chi-square statistics for categorical variables and Student t test for continuous variables.

RESULTS

76 pharmacists (62%) responded to the survey (approximately 50% women and 74% Asian). Knowledge among the pharmacists was very high; most knew the timing of the first dose (95%), the adverse effect of nausea (99%), the effectiveness compared with oral hormonal contraception (92%), that EC offers no protection from sexually transmitted infections (99%), differences from medical abortion (100%), and that EC does not increase the risk of birth defects (100%). Most pharmacists (91%) reported that participation in a direct pharmacy-access program would make them feel more important in their pregnancy prevention role, and nearly all (99%) supported pharmacy-access legislation for EC. Knowledge and attitudes did not differ by highest degree earned, position, age, or sex.

CONCLUSION

An assessment of pharmacist experiences in the San Francisco area showed high capability and support for an enhanced professional role regarding EC.