Pharmacists’ Medication Counseling Practices and Knowledge and Satisfaction of Patients with an Outpatient Hospital Pharmacy Service

Yabibal Berie Tadesse

University of Gondar, Ethiopia

Biography :

Yabibal B. Tadesse received his Bachelor of Pharmacy at the University of Gondar in July, 2014 and Master degree in Medicinal Chemistry at Addis Ababa University in July 2023. Currently he is working as a lecturer and researcher of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Gondar (UoG), Ethiopia. Yabibal B. Tadesse has a track record of research and have published original articles in reputable journals.

Abstract :

The purpose of this study was to evaluate pharmacists’ practices of medication counseling and to assess pa­tients’ knowledge of medications and satisfaction with pharmacy services at Woldia Comprehensive Special­ized Hospital.

A cross-sectional study was carried out between February and May 2022 at WCSH. A self- administered struc­tured questionnaire was used to assess the medication counseling activities of pharmacists, whereas inter­view-based questionnaires were used to evaluate patients’ knowledge of the drugs prescribed to them and their level of satisfaction with outpatient hospital pharmacy services. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 25.0 was used to analyze the data. Around two-thirds of pharmacy professionals (73.9%) agreed that they were satisfied with their counseling activities. But a very low number of them always provided coun­seling regarding the purpose of medications (13%), major drug-drug interactions (26.1%), possible side ef­fects (30.4%), the importance of compliance (30.4%), storage conditions (34.8%), and drug-food interactions (39.1%). Among the 339 patients involved in the study, less than half (46.3%) of

Them had sufficient knowledge of their dispensed medication at the exit interview. Only nearly half of the patients (54.3%) agreed that they were satisfied with the pharmacy service. Despite the fact that a significant proportion of the pharmacy professionals agreed that they were satisfied with their counseling practices, their level of involvement in major counseling activities was limited, which impacted the knowledge of patients about their medication and patients’ satisfaction with pharmacy services. The findings may indicate that phar­macy services need to improve through identifying potential gaps and tackling barriers.