Individual-and neighborhood-level factors associated with nonprescription counseling in pharmacies participating in the New York State Expanded Syringe Access Program

Objective: To determine the individual-and neighborhood-level predictors of frequent nonprescription in-pharmacy counseling. Design: Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study. Setting: New York City (NYC) during January 2008 to March 2009. Intervention: 130 pharmacies registered in the Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP) completed a survey. Participants: 477 pharmacists, nonpharmacist owners/managers, and technicians/clerks. Main outcome measures: Frequent counseling on medical conditions, health insurance, and other products. Results: Technicians were less likely than pharmacists to provide frequent counseling on medical conditions or health insurance. Regarding neighborhood-level characteristics, pharmacies in areas of high employment disability were less likely to provide frequent health insurance counseling and pharmacies in areas with higher deprivation were more likely to provide counseling on other products. Conclusion: ESAP pharmacy staff members are a frequent source of nonprescription counseling for their patients in disadvantaged neighborhoods of NYC. These findings suggest that ESAP pharmacy staff may be amenable to providing relevant counseling services to injection drug users and warrant further investigation.