Pharmacy robberies and occupational safety risks: A national cross-sectional study of community pharmacies

Community pharmacies face substantial exposure to workplace violence. However, pharmacy robberies remain critically under-studied. No robust investigation has examined robbery risk in community pharmacies in Jordan or the broader Middle East region, representing a significant research gap.

To quantify robbery exposure in community pharmacies, identify perceived pharmacy-level risk factors for robbery, and compare risk perceptions between pharmacists with and without robbery exposure.

Analytical cross-sectional survey. A self-administered questionnaire with demonstrated content validity (CVR ≥ 0.74) and internal consistency (Cronbach's α > 0.70) was used. Data from 975 respondents were analyzed using chi-square tests with Cramer's V and multivariable logistic regression; ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board.

Robbery exposure was reported by 4.3% of respondents and was significantly more frequent among men and pharmacists aged >30 years (p < 0.01). The most frequently endorsed pharmacy-level robbery risk factors were late opening (81.2%), single staffing (77.3%), dispensing narcotics (77.2%) and absence of surveillance cameras (72.6%). In adjusted analyses, agreement that robbery risk depends primarily on offender-related personal factors (OR 6.28, 95% CI 2.48-15.90) and prior experience with aggressive customers (OR 3.11, 95% CI 1.25-7.76) emerged as the strongest independent correlates of robbery exposure. Encounters with customers perceived as dangerous (72.1%) or aggressive (68.0%) were also common.

Robberies, alongside widespread dangerous and aggressive customer behavior, pose meaningful risks in community pharmacies. Differences between pharmacists exposed and not exposed to robbery in how they evaluated pharmacy-level robbery risk factors, together with the strong influence of offender- and behavior-related factors on robbery exposure underscoring the need for evidence-informed security policies, minimum staffing standards, and training to recognize and manage high-risk customer interactions.