Abstract

INTRODUCTION:  Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is pharmaceutical care service which improves ways pharmacists manage patients’ medication, minimize drug therapy problems by achieving definite outcomes and improving patient’s quality of life. The need for MTM services in community pharmacies is of interest to the profession.


 


OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of awareness of MTM services among Pharmacists; to identify factors that affect pharmacists’ attitudes towards providing MTM services, and to evaluate factors that influence the practice of MTM among community pharmacists in Delta state.


 


RESULTS: The total study sample was 118 community pharmacists, of which 66.9% were males. Most of the respondents (70.3%) had a Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) degree and 3.4% of them had an additional Masters (MPharm) degree. A total of 114 of the pharmacists interviewed had heard about MTM; 61.9% of them strongly agreed that they were qualified to provide MTM services, and 63.6% strongly agreed patient outcomes will improve when MTM services are provided. Furthermore, 68.5% of the pharmacist strongly agreed MTM will increase patient-pharmacist relationship, while 93.2% of them have provided MTM services in the past. There was significant association between qualification and MTM rating (p<0.05). There was also significant association between years of practice and MTM awareness (p<0.05).


 


CONCLUSION: Medication therapy management is well known and practiced among pharmacists in Delta state. Major factors like additional qualifications and number of years in practice is closely associated with provision of MTM services among the community pharmacists surveyed in Delta State.