Evaluation of Changes in Prescription Medication Patronage Motives: The Comparison Study

The purposes of this study were to: (1) compare the results of selected prescription medication patronage motives to the 1984 study in Madison, Wisconsin, and (2) to compare the top ranked and rated prescription medication patronage criteria for 1999 study. Data were collected in summer 1999. The survey instrument was developed into seven sections, one of which are related to this research. Section one contained 14 prescription medication patronage motive factors. Patronage factors were identified from the literature search from 1970-1997. After pretesting the questionnaire, it was mailed to a systemic random sample of 200 state government employees and 300 households residing in the Madison, Wisconsin area. The response rate was 55.20%. Using the directional student t- test, the results showed that most of the tested prescription medication patronage motive dimensions were significantly different (p < 0.05). Also the test of convergent validity showed that the top five ranked and rated prescription medication patronage dimensions were similar (only in different order). In conclusions, results suggest that overtime pharmacy patrons perceive most of prescription medication patronage motives in more important attitude than 1984 study.