Abstract

Background: Drug Therapy Problems (DTPs) actually or potentially interferes with desired health outcomes. Pharmaceutical Care aims at resolving drug therapy problems.


Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify DTPs in hypertensive patients, and to describe the pharmaceutical care interventions used in resolving them.


Methods: This was a non-randomised, single site, prospective study. A total of 65 eligible hypertensive patients were recruited and followed up for six months. Drug Therapy Problems were identified and specific interventions made to resolve them. Relevant descriptive and inferential statistics on data collected were performed.


Results: There were 51 (78.5%) females, and 47 (72.3%) patients aged over 50 years. Most patients (61.5%) had a family history of high blood pressure; 40% of the patients had diabetes as a comorbid condition. Total number of DTPs identified in the patients was 104 and 69% of them were resolved by the end of the study. Inappropriate adherence was the highest occurring DTP (51.5%). While 53.7% of the patients received only patient education to resolve the drug therapy problem identified, 46.3% of them received both patient education and drug-related interventions. Test for association between the type of DTP identified and the outcome of the PC intervention showed that it was statistically significant (p =0.001).


Conclusion: Inappropriate adherence to medication was the most occurring DTP. Direct patient education was mostly used in resolving DTPs. Resolution of the DTPs in a group of hypertensive patients in Warri, was closely associated with the outcome of Pharmaceutical care intervention employed.