IMPACT OF PHARMACIST’S INTERVENTION ON PATIENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEIR DIABETES MANAGEMENT IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN NIGERIA

IMPACT OF PHARMACIST’S INTERVENTION ON PATIENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEIR DIABETES MANAGEMENT IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN NIGERIA

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common endocrine disorder. It is a chronic metabolic condition characterized by hyperglycaemia due to impaired insulin secretion with or without insulin resistance.Most diabetic patients have inappropriateknowledge of the clinical disorder and thus unaware of the health implications of non-adherence. This study was aimed at assessing knowledge and attitude of diabetics to the management of their clinical disorder and also further examined the effect of educational intervention on their attitude towards the disease management. The study site and population were Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital and consenting diabetic out patients. An interviewer‟ administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from 340 selected participants, data collected were baseline demographics, participant‟s knowledge about diabetes and their attitude towards its management, baseline blood glucose readings(documented) and medicine usage. Participants with active mobile phones 104 were followed up every two weeks for two months and were assessed post intervention using their glucose level to establish the outcome. Data generated were analysed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics was used to describe data and paired T-test was used to compare pre and post intervention groups.The study showed that the overall patients‟ knowledge about diabetes was good because 92.4% of subjects were aware it is a chronic disease, 89.4% know it‟s complications, 81.8% could interpret blood glucose readings and 76.5% knew the signs of hypoglycaemia. The attitude however was not encouraging because 61.2% of them forget to take their drugs, 51.2% missed a dose two weeks pre assessment, 42.4% stopped drugs without consulting their doctors, 68.2% do not monitor their blood sugar level regularly,67.1% stop their drugs when they feel their blood glucose level is under control while 63.5% complemented their drugs with traditional medications.. In conclusion, diabetic patients of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital had good knowledge and relatively fair attitude towards their disease management. It also showed that patient education and counselling is very vital in the management of diabetes as followed up patients had remarkable improvement in their fasting blood glucose (p<0.01).

IMPACT OF PHARMACIST’S INTERVENTION ON PATIENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEIR DIABETES MANAGEMENT IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN NIGERIA