ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The introduction of pharmaceutical care in Nigeria has been faced with many challenges in addition to limited information regarding the practice. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the barriers encountered by community pharmacists in Nigeria in the provision of pharmaceutical care. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out in Enugu urban, southeast Nigeria. Data were collected using pretested and structured 5-point Likert scale questionnaires that were self-administered to the respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The 78 community pharmacists comprised 62 males and 16 females. Out of the 78 respondents, 69 (88.5%) had the basic Bachelor of Pharmacy degree while three (3.9%) had Fellowship, Master's, and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees respectively. The mean number of years of practice was 8.2 (±0.6). The key limitations to the implementation of pharmaceutical care were: pharmacists' attitude and lack of pharmaceutical care skills, as well as resource and system-related constraints. Others challenges were interprofessional and academic obstacles like lack of collaboration (66.6%) and lack of role models (42.1%). Most of the respondents (81%) were strongly willing to adopt and implement pharmaceutical care, while 19.2% were not strongly willing to practice pharmaceutical care. CONCLUSION: Despite limitations to practice, community pharmacists in the area are very inclined to implement pharmaceutical care in the private sector to improve patients' quality of life.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: We assessed the reported quality of life of patients with HIV/AIDS and explored the impact of patients' sociodemographic profile on the quality-of-life domains. METHODS: Consenting outpatients who met criteria were consecutively selected in a secondary health care facility in Benin City, Nigeria. Quality of life was determined in the nine domains of HIV/AIDS Targeted Quality of Life (HAT-QOL) instrument. Quality-of-life scores were computed on the scale of 0 to 100 and triangulated with a rated interval scale of 1 to 5 suited for quantitative analysis. Association between rated scores and each domain was explored by using Students' t test and analysis of variance at 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: Out of the 403 patients, 82.1% were females; 147 (36.1%) belonged to the modal age group of 20 to 30 years; the mean age for grouped data was 39.2 years. About 239 (58.7%) were not married. Also, 338 (83.0%) earned below $1500 per annum and 303 (74.40%) had basic education (grade 1 to grade 9). HAT-QOL scores indicated the following: overall function (89.96 ± 5.62); life satisfaction (91.94 ± 3.62); health worries (87.06 ± 4.28); financial worries (81.00 ± 3.95); medication worries (91.65 ± 4.47); HIV mastery (71.00 ± 3.11); disclosure worries (27.50 ± 7.57); provider trust (91.63 ± 1.96); and sexual function (70.25 ± 3.51). Likert-type rated scores were in agreement with HAT-QOL scores. Provider trust was associated with gender, employment status, and educational level. Sexual function was associated with gender and age (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients reported satisfactory quality of life in the domains of overall function, life satisfaction, health worries, financial worries, medication worries, HIV mastery, provider trust, and sexual function. Quality of life was low in the domain of disclosure worries, indicating concerns for discrimination and stigmatization. Age, level of education, and employment status had a strong impact on the quality of life of patients with HIV/AIDs.
