Background:As pharmacies continually strive to improve safety and quality, there is growing recognition of the importance of establishing a culture of patient safety.

Objectives:This study explores the attitudes and perceptions of patient safety culture for pharmacy workers in China by using a Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSPSC) questionnaire and comparing it with the psychometric properties of an adapted translation of the PSPSC in Chinese hospital pharmacies with that of the US.

Methods:: We used the modified PSPSC questionnaire to measure 11 dimensions of patient safety culture from 16 hospital pharmacies in one of the cities, southwest part of China. The questionnaire included 527 Chinese pharmacy workers which consisted of 223 pharmacists and 134 assistant pharmacists. We used SPSS 17.0 and Microsoft Excel 2007 to conduct the statistical analysis on survey data including descriptive statistics and validity and reliability of survey. All data were input and checked by two investigators independently.

Results:A total of 630 questionnaires were distributed of which 527 were responded validly (response rate 84 %). The positive response rate for each item ranged from 37% to 90%. The positive response rate on 3 dimensions ( Teamwork , Staff Training and Skills and Staffing, Work Pressure, and Pace) was higher than that of AHRQ data (P<0.05).There was a statistical difference on the perception of patient safety culture in groups of different hospital levers, sex, and qualification levels. The internal consistency of the total survey was comparatively satisfied (Cronbach’s α=0.89).

Conclusions: The results show that among the pharmacy workers surveyed in China there was a positive attitude towards the patient safety culture within their organisations. The differences between China and the US in patient safety culture suggests that cultural uniqueness should be taken into consideration whenever safety culture measurement tools are applied in different cultural settings.