EVALUATION OF PATIENT’S ANTIDIABETIC MEDICATION COUNSELLING PROVIDED BY PHARMACISTS IN A TERTIARY HEALTH CARE SETTING IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to ascertain the level of patient’s anti-diabetic medication counselling provided by Pharmacists. Seventy two (72) outpatients that visited the consultant outpatient clinic of the endocrinology unit of the department of medicine, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria were interviewed using a self-administered pre-tested structured, mostly closed ended questionnaire.The study participants had a mean (SD) age of 48.0 + 1.2. Out of 49(68.1%) that received medication counselling majority 24(33.3%) were counselled by pharmacists, followed by sales personnel 15(20.8%). There was a significant association between the medication counselling provided and the providers. Only 8(11.1%) of the participants exclusively bought their anti-diabetic medications from the hospital pharmacies alone. Significant number of study participants 31(43.1%) did not know the names of the anti-diabetic medications they were taking. Slightly more than one half of the study participants 37(51.4%) did not know the duration of their therapy. Outstanding high number of the participants 50(69.4%) did not know the side effects of their anti-diabetic medications. Majority of the participants 58(80.6%) sometimes missed to take their medications, and most of them 44(75.9%) took the missed dose(s) of the anti-diabetic medications as soon as they remembered and took only that dose when it was almost time for the next dose. This study revealed a low level counselling of patients on their anti-diabetic medications by pharmacists in the study area.