A comparative, cross-sectional study was designed to document the management of dyspepsia including history taking and provision of advice at 238 randomly selected pharmacies through simulated patient visits in twin cities of Pakistan. Kruskal-Wallis test and Man- Whitney test (p ≤ 0.05) were used to compare management of dyspepsia by the dispensers working at community pharmacies handled by different provider types in the two cities.

The simulated patients were dealt by a pharmacy salesperson in 75.6% (n= 180) of visits. Medication was dispensed in 73.5% (n= 175) of the visits, while in 10.9% (n= 26) of the cases the customer was referred directly to a physician. No significant difference at (p ≤ 0.05) was observed among history taking and advice provision in treatment of dyspepsia by the dispensers working at community pharmacies handled by different provider types and situated at different settings in the two cities.

This study highlighted poor case management and dispensing practices of dyspepsia at community pharmacies in Pakistan. Absence of qualified people, lack of provision of advice and lack of professionalism by the dispensers are the main reasons for the poor quality of services at community pharmacies. Keywords : Community pharmacies, dyspepsia, dispensers, history taking, provision of advice, Pakistan