Conference Proceeding Open Access

The Evaluation of the Counseling Effect on Health Outcomes for Patients in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction Pharmacists play a crucial role in improving medication use. Patient counseling is considered a part of pharmacist services such as providing correct, understandable, applicable information to patients related to their medication and health condition, such as dosage form, dose, duration, drug-drug interaction, and side effects. Furthermore, knowing the history of the previous conditions and medications. Therefore, evidence recommended that patient counseling plays a vital role in order to promote the health outcomes. Aim To evaluate the effect of patient counseling on health outcomes in Saudi Arabia. Methods We conducted an observational study that was carried out in Saudi Arabia from 15 February 2015 to 14 May 2015. 571 patients were randomly selected. The data was collected through an online survey (questionnaire); the link was sent out randomly online using Google Form Survey. This questionnaire involved different types of questions and included mostly straightforward questions and Likert-Type Scales. Results A total number of 571 respondents completed the questionnaire. The majority (67.7%) of the respondents admitted that they benefited from pharmaceutical services. They believed that pharmaceutical services such as educating patients about their medications could improve patient health outcomes, while (32.3%) confessed that they did not get any benefit from these kinds of services. Unfortunately, most respondents stated that the pharmacist neither explained all possible side effects related to the medication nor ask about previous conditions and medications when assessing the patient’s drug therapy. Conclusion We concluded that patients who receive counseling from pharmacists about their medication and their health condition in both hospital outpatient, inpatient pharmacies and community pharmacy settings have much more benefit on health outcomes.

M. K. Almutairi, K. M. Al-Modeny, A. M. Al-Eid

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