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.