The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially transformed the healthcare sector. While telemedicine has rapidly advanced, the essential roles of medical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, have been reaffirmed. Even prior to the pandemic, we had been evaluating pharmacists’ interpersonal roles from both patient and pharmacist perspectives using role theory. Accordingly, we investigated whether perceptions of pharmacists’ roles changed among patients and pharmacists through comparable surveys conducted before and during the pandemic. A nationwide online survey was conducted twice (April 30-May 7, 2021, and April 22-25, 2022), targeting 1,000 patients who used community pharmacies and 600-800 pharmacists employed at those pharmacies across Japan. The questionnaire comprised 12 items： 11 concerning pharmacists’ interpersonal roles, including communication, comprehending medication effects, and serving as a family pharmacist or drug expert, and one additional item addressing expectations during the pandemic. A five-point Likert scale was used. Compared with pre-pandemic results, patient evaluations revealed no statistically significant changes in either 2021 or 2022. However, pharmacists’ self-evaluations declined in response to the question, “Are pharmacists more expert in medicine than doctors?” The newly introduced question regarding pharmacists’ contributions to the community received higher ratings from patients than from pharmacists, indicating considerable patient expectations. Overall, only pharmacists’ perceptions changed, demonstrating decreased confidence and self-evaluation. Conversely, patient perceptions remained stable, suggesting that pharmacists are more sensitive to social changes than patients themselves.
