Objective:
To assess the impact of pharmacists’ participation on the frequency
and depth of medication history information documented in a developing
setting like Nigeria
Method: The study consisted of two phases. The first phase was
a baseline cross-sectional assessment of the frequency and depth
of medication history information documented by physicians in
case notes of systematic samples of 900 patients that were stratified
over 9 Medical outpatients Units at a premier teaching hospital
in south western Nigeria. The second phase was an exploratory
study involving 10 pharmacists who conducted cross-sectional medication
history interview for 324 randomly selected patients.
Results: 49.2% of patients, whose medication history were documented
at the baseline, by physicians, were males; while 50.3% of patient
interviewed by pharmacists were male. Mean age (SD) of males and
females whose medication histories were documented by physicians
and pharmacists were 43.2 (SD=18.6), 43.1 (SD=17.9) years and
51.5 (SD=17.6), 52.1 (SD=17.4) years respectively. The frequency
of medication history information documented by pharmacists was
significantly higher for twelve of the thirteen medication history
components (P < 0.0001). These include prescription medicines;
over the counter medicines; source of medicines; adverse drug
reactions; allergy to drugs, allergy to foods, allergy to chemicals;
patient adherence; alcohol use; cigarette smoking; dietary restrictions
and herbal medicine use. The depth of medication history information
acquired and documented by pharmacist was significantly better
for all the thirteen medication history components (P<0.0001).
Conclusion: Pharmacists’ participation resulted in significant
increase in frequency and depth of medication history information
documented in a developing setting like Nigeria. The new medication
history evaluation criteria proved useful in assessing the impact
of pharmacists’ participation.
