Simulated patient methodology as a “gold standard” in community pharmacy practice: Response to criticism

doi:10.5662/wjm.v14.i2.93026

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World Journal of Methodology

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Letter to the Editor

World J Methodol. Jun 20, 2024; 14(2): 93026
Published online Jun 20, 2024. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v14.i2.93026

Simulated patient methodology as a “gold standard” in community pharmacy practice: Response to criticism

Bernhard Langer, Christian Kunow

Christian Kunow, Bernhard Langer, Department of Health, Nursing, Management, Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Neubrandenburg 17033, Germany

Author contributions: Kunow C wrote and prepared the original draft; Langer B conceptualized the letter, and reviewed, validated and edited the original draft; Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Corresponding author: Bernhard Langer, BSc, MSc, PhD, Professor, Department of Health, Nursing, Management, Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Brodaer Straße 2, Neubrandenburg 17033, Germany. langer@hs-nb.de

Received: February 16, 2024
Revised: April 28, 2024
Accepted: May 17, 2024
Published online: June 20, 2024
Processing time: 118 Days and 9.5 Hours

Abstract

The simulated patient methodology (SPM) is considered the “gold standard” as covert participatory observation. SPM is attracting increasing interest for the investigation of community pharmacy practice; however, there is criticism that SPM can only show a small picture of everyday pharmacy practice and therefore has limited external validity. On the one hand, a certain design and application of the SPM goes hand in hand with an increase in external validity. Even if, on the other hand, this occurs at the expense of internal validity due to the trade-off situation, the justified criticism of the SPM for investigating community pharmacy practice can be countered.

Keywords: Simulated patient methodology; Community pharmacy; Gold standard; Covert participatory observation; Internal validity; External validity

Core Tip: The simulated patient methodology (SPM) is considered the “gold standard” as covert participatory observation. SPM is attracting increasing interest for the investigation of community pharmacy practice. However, there is criticism that SPM can only show a small picture of everyday pharmacy practice. However, if the SPM is designed and applied in a certain way, this criticism can be countered.