Abstract
Objective: The primary objective was to assess the satisfaction of patients undergoing hemodialysis regarding counseling services provided by pharmacists. The secondary objectives were to compare the effect of years on dialysis and the presence of comorbidities on patient satisfaction. Methods: A total of 138 patients were included in the study, and all demographic and clinical variables were retrieved from the dialysis unit records of King Abdulaziz Medical City over a period of 4 months from July to October 2015. Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for group comparisons at a significance level of 0.05. Results: Most patients aged between 51 and 75 years and had been on dialysis for 1 to 5 years; 94.9% of them had comorbidities. The overall satisfaction of patients toward pharmacy services was excellent (77.5%), and approximately 38.4% of patients thought that pharmacists were providing clear information about their prescribed medications. In addition, 55.8% of the patients did not know that hemodialysis could affect the efficacy of their medications. Conclusions: Patients undergoing hemodialysis were somewhat satisfied with the counseling provided by the pharmacist. Moreover, there is a need for educational programs for patients undergoing hemodialysis that would increase awareness among hospital pharmacists to improve patients’ medication knowledge.
Highlights
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive condition, and when renal function of the patient deteriorates to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), CKD becomes irreversible and requires life-long renal replacement therapy (RRT) [1]
To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia to assess the satisfaction of patients undergoing hemodialysis with counseling services provided by pharmacy departments
The fifth part requested the opinions of patients undergoing hemodialysis on improving the counseling services by providing a hotline for medication counseling and/or providing educational material, their knowledge regarding the effect of a dialysis session on the efficacy of their prescribed medication, and their willingness to know more about their medications
Summary
A total of 138 patients were included in the study, and all demographic and clinical variables were retrieved from the dialysis unit records of King Abdulaziz Medical City over a period of 4 months from July to October 2015. Results: Most patients aged between 51 and 75 years and had been on dialysis for 1 to 5 years; 94.9% of them had comorbidities. The overall satisfaction of patients toward pharmacy services was excellent (77.5%), and approximately 38.4% of patients thought that pharmacists were providing clear information about their prescribed medications. 55.8% of the patients did not know that hemodialysis could affect the efficacy of their medications. Conclusions: Patients undergoing hemodialysis were somewhat satisfied with the counseling provided by the pharmacist. There is a need for educational programs for patients undergoing hemodialysis that would increase awareness among hospital pharmacists to improve patients’ medication knowledge
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