Assessment of pharmacist-patient medication counselling services at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Patient medication counselling is a core element of the pharmaceutical care process. All the activities of clinically oriented pharmacists are aimed at promoting the right use of medicines by the patient.

Objectives: The general objective was to determine patients' perception of the benefits of pharmacist -patient medication counselling interactions. The specific objectives were to determine if there was an association between pharmacist-patient medication counseling interactions and patients' motivation to take medicine, patients' adherence to therapy and prevention of irrational drug use respectively.

Methods: A 10-item pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 100 patients over a period of two weeks (14 days). The inclusion criterion was exposure to at least one previous pharmacist-patient counselling session i.e. one counselling session.

Results: Patient benefit from pharmacist-patient medication counselling as shown by a mean score of 42.27 3.89 in 98% of respondents out of a possible mean score of 45. Pharmacist-patient medication counselling motivate patients to take their medications (χ2=39.13, P<0.05, Cl=95%). Pharmacist-patient medication counselling was associated with an improvement in patient medication adherence to drug therapy (χ2=24.29, P<0.05, Cl=95%) as well as prevention of irrational drug use (χ2=24.36, P<0.05, Cl=95%).

Conclusion: Patients benefited from medication counseling by pharmacist. Medication counseling was associated with an increase in patients' motivation to take their medicines, as well as an improvement in medication therapy adherence and prevention of irrational drug use.