Abstract
BACKGROUND: 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. AIM: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.