Pharmaceutical care interventions, their outcomes and patients’ satisfaction in antiretroviral drug therapy

Abstract

Pharmacist’s interventions (also known as pharmaceutical care plans) are means of solving the drug therapy problems identified in pharmaceutical care. Outcomes are the results of pharmacists’ intervention activities. Patients’ satisfaction refers to patients’ feeling of fulfillment, pleasure or happiness with the services they have received. This study was designed to determine the types of pharmacist interventions applied in the pharmaceutical care of HIV patients receiving treatment at a tertiary hospital in southeast Nigeria, the types of outcomes of such interventions and level of patients’ satisfaction with their drug therapy. The components of the American society of health-system pharmacists (ASHP) guidelines on ‘standardized method for pharmaceutical care was used as a data collection instrument to evaluate, document and intervene in the antiretroviral therapy of about one thousand four hundred and seventy three (1,473) patients. The results showed significant reductions in the frequency of the various interventions and parameters measured after the interventions. The study concluded that pharmaceutical interventions influences patients’ adherence, optimizes their drug therapy and improves rational prescribing and care resulting in significant improvements in the outcomes of their treatment and levels of satisfaction.

Keywords

• Pharmacist Interventions
• Outcomes
• Pharmaceutical care
• HIV/AIDS
• Patient satisfaction