A self-administered 29-item questionnaire comprising four sections was developed based on a literature learn more review, current national asthma guidelines[26] and the research experience of the investigators (Table 1).

As the guidelines do not articulate the specific elements of pharmacist delivered asthma interventions, the guidelines were used to identify all the potential activities/aspects of asthma management in which the pharmacist could engage or participate. Section 1 (role) covered pharmacists’ perceptions of their role in asthma management (items 1–10), with responses on a five-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree and 4 = strongly agree). Positive agreement to each item was indicated by a rating of 3 or 4. Section 2 (barriers) looked at pharmacists’ perceptions regarding barriers to the provision of pharmacy asthma management services (items 11–27); respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which each item impacts on their ability to provide specific

selleck inhibitor asthma counselling or services using a five-point Likert scale (0 = no impact to 4 = high impact). Section 3 (inter-professional contact) covered perceptions regarding inter-professional contact (items 28 and 29), with responses on a five-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree and 4 = strongly agree). Positive agreement to each item was indicated by a rating of 3 or 4. Section 4 (demographics) contained eight questions covering demographics: gender, age group, number of years since registration, position in the pharmacy, hours worked in the pharmacy/week, accreditation for Home Medicines Review

(HMR),[29] pharmacy location and postcode. Pharmacies were classified as metropolitan or regional based on the pharmacy postcode.[30] All data collected were de-identified and double-entered to ensure accuracy. Exploratory factor analysis was used to explore the linear relationships amongst the 10 items and the possibility of grouping related items together into a smaller number of factors.[31] Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was used to examine the factor structure. Factorability of the data set was assessed by the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy (index >0.6). Factor extraction was based on eigenvalues, the scree plot and the proportion of total variance explained. Items Megestrol Acetate that had poor factor loadings (<0.55) or cross loaded on two or more factors were removed. Internal consistency of the derived subscales was assessed by determining Cronbach's alpha coefficient (values >0.70 were sought).[32] Mean level of agreement scores to each factor for metropolitan versus regional pharmacists were compared using Mann–Whitney U tests. The proportion of pharmacists indicating a positive agreement to each individual item (i.e. a rating ≥3 on a five-point Likert scale from 0–4), each factor and all items was also calculated. Results were expressed as the proportion of pharmacists who rated any level of impact (i.e.