Evaluation of Pharmacist Interventions on Treatment Outcomes of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients in Secondary Health Facilities Abuja

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis is a chronic infection that remains one of the major health problems in most developing countries. Poor treatment outcomes have serious consequences which include spread of the disease, morbidity and mortality. The world health organization (WHO) recommended minimum successful outcomes of 85%; this has not been achieved in most facilities rendering the
services. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of Pharmacist interventions on the treatment outcomes of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in secondary health facilities in Abuja.

Method: A total of 110 patients undergoing Directly Observed Therapy Short course (DOTS) were recruited and split into control and intervention groups. Both groups received health education on; healthy living, cough etiquette, disease pathophysiology, infection control, prevention, and medication adherence. But the intervention group received phone calls and text messages throughout
their six-month treatment. A questionnaire was administered to both groups before the health education as in the case with the intervention group, this was to assess their baseline knowledge of the disease and to measure the medication adherence level, while the post-intervention survey evaluated the impact of pharmacist-led interventions on improving knowledge, adherence, and treatment
outcomes on both groups. The questionnaire included a combination of multiple-choice questions, Likert-scale items, and open-ended questions to obtain comprehensive insights into the respondents' perspectives. In addition to the questionnaire, a specially designed form (proforma), was employed to systematically collect data on treatment outcomes from the respondents' hospital records post-
intervention.

Results: The study showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in medication adherence after interventions with more than 70% of participants having good adherence(100%), disease knowledge and social history in intervention group accompanied with phone calls and text messages as compared to control group with 75.9% non-adherance. The study established successful treatment outcomes of tuberculosis of 87.5% in the intervention group as against 74.1% in the control group from the secondary healthcare facilities used for the research.

Conclusion: The study showed that pharmacist intervention improves knowledge of tuberculosis disease, medication adherence with 87.5% successful treatment outcomes for patients with tuberculosis attending the secondary healthcare facilities in Abuja.