Patients’ preferences toward the gender of pharmacist in community pharmacy in Al Ain, UAE

Objectives: to explore customers’ preferences toward the of pharmacist in community pharmacy in Al Ain area, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Also, to study the effect of different socio-demographic determinants on their choices. Methods: A cross sectional survey has been carried out among 500 adult individuals randomly selected from Al Ain city, UAE. Results: many factors were taken into consideration in this study including gender, level of education, employment status and nationality. Sub analysis of the results has shown a statistically significant difference in choices between male and female participants. In general, almost half of participants are neutral toward the gender of pharmacist. Most of males lean toward “no preference”, which is significantly higher than females same choice (55.1% VS 44.7% respectively, P = 0.029). Females’ preferences toward the same gender service were significantly higher than male participants (46.2% VS 30.8% respectively. P<0.001). Level of education has a slight impact on participants’ choices. Finally, employed participants were more neutral toward the gender of pharmacist compared to unemployed participants. Conclusion: Customers’ preferences toward the gender of pharmacist in community pharmacy in Al Ain area were significantly different between males and females. Female customers are significantly more appreciative to same-gender pharmacy services compared to male customers.