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. 2010 Apr;8(2):139-45.
doi: 10.4321/s1886-36552010000200009. Epub 2010 Mar 15.

Pharmacists' participation in the documentation of medication history in a developing setting: An exploratory assessment with new criteria

Kazeem B Yusuff  1 , Fola Tayo  2 , Bola A Aina  2
Affiliations

Pharmacists' participation in the documentation of medication history in a developing setting: An exploratory assessment with new criteria

Kazeem B Yusuff et al. Pharm Pract (Granada). 2010 Apr.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Medical Records; Nigeria; Pharmacists.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

We declare that there is no conflict of interest on this research study. This research study did not receive fund or support from any source.

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