Title:Knowledge of Pharmacists about Anti-epileptic Drugs in a Developing Country
VOLUME: 15 ISSUE: 1
Author(s):Mohammed Awad Osman Ali*, Esra Abdallah Abdalwahed Mahgoub, Mohammed Nimir and Kamil Mirghani Ali
Affiliation:Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Alghad International Colleges for Applied Health Sciences, Abha City, General Internal Medicine, Hexham General Hospital, Northumberland, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum
Keywords:Pharmacists, epilepsy, drugs, anti-epileptics, khartoum state, drug-drug intraction.
Abstract:
Background: Pharmacists play an essential role in educating the epileptic patients about their
disease and their medications. Improving the patient’s awareness may lead to improve their compliance and
decrease drug-drug interaction and ultimately improve their quality of life.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the pharmacist’s knowledge about anti-epileptic drugs in Khartoum
State, Sudan.
Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in Khartoum State, Sudan. Proportionate stratified
sampling was used to determine the targeted Pharmacies, and all pharmacists who were present in the
selected pharmacy at the time of data collection and fulfilled our selection criteria were included in the
study. A structure closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from candidates.
Results: Majority of participants were female (66.9%), less than 30 years old (66.7%) and have less than 5
years of experience (62.1%). Unfortunately, the majority of the participants (85.3%) had poor knowledge,
and only (14.7%) of them had good knowledge. Furthermore, the study revealed that age (p =.030), years of
experience (p =.026) and the degree in pharmacy (p = .003) were significantly associated with knowledge
level.
Conclusion: Majority of the pharmacists in Khartoum State have poor knowledge about anti-epileptic
drugs. Further research is needed to investigate the actual factors behind this knowledge gap and to propose
interventions to improve the pharmacist’s knowledge and practice aiming to improve the quality of health
care provided to the patients.
