Abstract
Objective To investigate the level of knowledge, medication adherence, and the relationship among patients taking chronic oral medication and attending community pharmacies in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among adult chronic disease patients who were taking oral medications and getting service in 19 community pharmacies in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia. Patients' medication knowledge and adherence were assessed using interviewer-administered validated questionnaires. Results Of the 402 study participants (mean ± SD age = 44.7 ± 16.9 years, range = 18–86 years), 53.2% were males, 84.8% were aged <65 years, and 60.7% had high school education and above. About 348 (88.6%) respondents have used oral medications for more than one year. Less than half of respondents have good medication knowledge (n = 54, 38.3%) and were adherent to their medication (n = 158, 39.3%). Chronic disease patients with high school and above education are 5.35 times (95% CI: 3.231–8.857, p < 0.001) more likely to have good knowledge of their medication and having good medication knowledge was linked to higher medication adherence (AOR, 95% CI = 10.300 [6.16517.209]; p < 0.001). A statistically significant correlation was observed between the scores of medication knowledge and adherence (r = −0.471, p < 0.001). Conclusion The majority of patients on oral chronic medications and attending community pharmacies in Gondar town do not have good medication knowledge and were nonadherent. Community pharmacists need to engage in medication counseling to improve medication knowledge and adherence of chronic disease patients.
Highlights
Adherence to chronic medications is one of the key factors in achieving therapeutic success
Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the patients with high school and above education were more likely to have good medication knowledge
Our results showed that more than 60% of the patients had low adherence and had a difficulty remembering their medications. ese results were consistent with previous studies [28, 29]
Summary
Adherence to chronic medications is one of the key factors in achieving therapeutic success. A patient’s poor knowledge of prescribed drugs and lower medication adherence can lead to a burden on public health care Chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma require a partnership between health care providers and patients to achieve long-term therapeutic and mortality outcome goals. E goal of the present investigation is to assess the level of knowledge and medication adherence in patients under oral chronic medication treatment in community pharmacy settings in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. It aims to examine the possible associations between these two factors, together with the patient’s sociodemographic and personal data. Understanding which factors affect the level of medication knowledge and adherence will be useful in devising strategies that could lead to more positive clinical outcomes and decreased health care costs
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