Impact of Clinical Pharmacist-Provided Education on Medication Adherence Behaviour in ESRD Patients on Haemodialysis

Abstract

The aim of this research is to assess the impact of clinical pharmacist-provided education on medication adherence in haemodialysis patients. Ninety haemodialysis patients were randomized into two groups. Brief medication questionnaire (BMQ), a tool for screening adherence was administered to both groups at the baseline to assess adherence to antihypertensives, vitamin D analogues, phosphate binders and folic acid in haemodialysis patients. The intervention group received education regarding their medications by a clinical pharmacist over seven weeks. The control group received standard care. At the end of eight weeks, BMQ was once again administered to patients of both groups. At the baseline, there was no significant difference in the mean BMQ regimen, belief, recall and the medication access screen scores of the control and intervention groups. At the end of the eighth week, there was a significant drop (<em>p</em><0.05) in the mean scores of regimen, belief and recall screens of BMQ in the intervention group, indicating an improved level of medication adherence. For the control group, there was no significant drop in the mean BMQ screen scores. The reported level of non-adherence was the highest for phosphate binders. We conclude that clinical pharmacist-provided education was effective in improving adherence behaviour of haemodialysis patients.