Outpatients’ Satisfaction with Pharmacists’ Medication Counselling in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background and Objective: Medication counselling is an integral part of pharmacy practice both in hospitals and community settings. Effective medication counselling contributes largely to patient’s adherence to medications, which in turn improves their satisfaction and health outcomes. This study aims to ascertain the degree of outpatients’ satisfaction with pharmacist medication counseling in a Nigerian teaching hospital. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using a semi-structured questionnaire among outpatients visiting 5 clinics in the hospital. The questionnaire was interviewer-administered. Descriptive statistical analyses were used to summarize the findings. The chi-square test was used to determine the association between respondents’ sociodemographic variables and their satisfaction with pharmacists’ medication counseling. The predictors of satisfaction towards pharmacists’ medication counseling were determined using Logistic regression. Results: A total of 353 outpatients participated in the study. More female respondents (58.6%) than male respondents (41.4%), mostly within the age range of 18-28 years (36.3) participated in this study. Medical Outpatient Clinic has the highest satisfaction.  (50.4%) and dermatology clinic the least (5.4%). There is no correlation between patients’ sociodemographic characteristics and satisfaction. However, there is a significant association between the clinics visited and patient satisfaction. Overall, about three-quarters of the patients (74.2%) were satisfied with pharmacists’ medication counselling while a quarter was dissatisfied.  Conclusion: Patients typically exhibit a high level of satisfaction with the pharmacists’ roles and medication counselling at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital. However, a fraction of the patients demonstrated some level of dissatisfaction which suggests the need for improved practice.