Impact of pharmacists' training on oral anticoagulant counseling: A randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

The study evaluated the impact of oral anticoagulant counseling training on the quality of counseling provided by pharmacists. A prospective RCT was conducted among 33 pharmacists from 23 pharmacies in Ibadan, Nigeria. Six mystery patients (MPs) who were either warfarin-naïve, experienced adverse drug reaction (ADR), or drug interaction (DI) to warfarin were used to assess pharmacists' oral anticoagulant counseling quality at pre- and post-intervention. A 2-week online oral anticoagulant counseling training was given to the intervention group pharmacists. Quality of counseling was categorized as poor (0-20 %), fair (21-50 %), moderate (51-80 %), and optimal (81-100 %). At pre-intervention, the quality of oral anticoagulant counseling provided to the MPs was poor. Post-intervention, the quality improved among pharmacists in the intervention group, from poor to fair for both warfarin-naïve MP and MP who experienced DI, and from fair to moderate for MP with ADR. Short-term online oral anticoagulant counseling training improved the quality of counseling provided by community pharmacists to mystery patients on warfarin. Online oral anticoagulant counseling training may be employed by pharmacists' professional bodies intermittently to improve oral anticoagulant counseling.