Pharmacists’ involvements and barriers in the provision of health promotion services towards noncommunicable diseases: Community-based cross-sectional study in Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Community drug retail outlets (CDROs) are among the initial healthcare facilities where pharmacists play a crucial role in preventing and managing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Therefore, this study assessed pharmacists’ level of involvement and barriers in the provision of health promotion for noncommunicable diseases at CDROs in Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacists in Northwest Ethiopia from April to June 2022. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire, and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26. The level of involvement mean score difference among pharmacists was investigated using an independent samples t-test and a one-way ANOVA. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between pharmacists’ level of involvement and other variables. A p-value < 0.05 at a 95% confidence interval (CI) was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 285 (94.4%) participants participated in the study out of 302 approached samples. Overall, more than half (58.9%) of the participants showed a high level of involvement in health promotion. Pharmacists who had a degree and/or above (AOR = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01–0.63; p < 0.001) and served a lower number of clients per day (AOR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.04–94; p = 0.042) were less likely to have low involvement in health promotion services. Pharmacists who worked fewer hours per day (AOR = 3.65, 95% CI: 1.79–7.48; p = 0.005) were more likely to have low involvement. Lack of an appropriate area in the CDROs (52.1%) and lack of coordination with other healthcare providers (43.6%) were the most reported barriers to the provision of health promotion. CONCLUSION: Most pharmacists were found to have a high level of involvement in health promotion activities. A lack of an appropriate area in the CDROs and a lack of coordination with other healthcare providers were among the most reported barriers. Pharmacists might benefit from training to increase their educational backgrounds, and barriers could be addressed to enhance the pharmacist involvement. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13690-023-01038-x.