EXPLORING DRUG THERAPY PROBLEMS AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS VISITING COMMUNITY PHARMACIES
Jeffrey S. Soni* and Azuka C. Oparah
ABSTRACT
Drug therapy problems (DTPs) are a big burden on the healthcare system and there are numerous advantages in resolving them. Our study aimed to identify, determine the prevalence of drug therapy problems and their associated factors among hypertensive patients visiting community pharmacies for prescription refill. A prospective descriptive study was carried out in five randomly selected community pharmacies. Hypertensive patients' prescriptions were assessed for drug therapy problems during the patient's consultation. Data were collected using the pharmaceutical care sheet. The percentage and type of drug therapy problems identified calculated and analyzed using Students' t-test and one way ANOVA at 95% CI. Of 260 hypertensive patients interviewed, 136 (52.3%) were males, 204 (78.5%) married, 108 (41.5%) were below 5 years of hypertension treatment, 205 (33.4%) of the prescribed drugs were two combination anti-hypertensive drugs. A total of 202 (77.7%) DTPs were identified, 135 (65.8%) accounted for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) out of which 47 (35.9%) experienced headache, 32 (24.4%) experienced GIT disturbance and 18 (13.7%) experienced dry cough. 132 (65.3%) Patients had two types of DTPs. Among 202 (77.7%) DTPs encountered 41 (20.3%) and 49 (24.3%) were referred to hospital and community pharmacies respectively. Thirty-four (82.9%) were rejected from the hospital by physicians, while 38(77.6%) were accepted by community pharmacists. Demographic factors and some clinical characteristics number of drugs blood pressure class, number of comorbidity and number of antihypertensive drugs used (P=0.005) significantly affect DTPs. DTPs among hypertensive patients visiting community Pharmacies in Benin City were high and the most occurring DTPs identified resulted from ADRs problem. While the major associated factors were age, sex, number of drugs, blood pressure class, number of comorbidity and number of antihypertensive drugs used.
Keywords: Drug therapy problems (DTPs), community pharmacies, hypertension, patients and associated factors.
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