Abstract:
aimed to identify the community pharmacists’ perception towards dispensing errors in the community pharmacies in Gondar
town, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 47 community pharmacists selected through
convenience sampling. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics,Mann–Whitney U test, and Pearson’s Chisquare
test of independence were conducted with 𝑃 ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. Result.The majority of respondents
were in the 23–28-year age group (𝑁 = 26, 55.3%) and with at least B.Pharmdegree (𝑁 = 25, 53.2%). Poor prescription handwriting
and similar/confusing names were perceived to be the main contributing factors while all the strategies and types of dispensing
errors were highly acknowledged by the respondents. Group differences (𝑃 < 0.05) in opinions were largely due to educational
level and age. Conclusion. Dispensing errors were associated with prescribing quality and design of dispensary as well as dispensing
procedures. Opinion differences relate to age and educational status of the respondents.
