The impact of a pharmacist-led educational interview on medication adherence of Saudi patients with epilepsy

Refah AlAjmi,¹ Sinaa Al-Aqeel,¹ Salah Baz<sup>2

1</sup>Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; ²Department of Neurosciences, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led educational interview in terms of adherence to antiepileptic drug administration among adult patients with epilepsy.
Method: Sixty adult patients with epilepsy who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited. A pharmacist-led educational interview was conducted with the intervention group (n=30). Patients in the control group (n=30) were interviewed and contacted 6 weeks after the initial visit without receiving any intervention. Antiepileptic drug adherence was measured during clinic visits, and 6 weeks afterwards using the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. This prospective interventional study was conducted between September and December 2013.
Results: Only 29 control patients and 27 intervention patients completed the 6 weeks post-intervention adherence measurement. The adherence score average in the intervention group was 5.26±0.98 at baseline and improved to 6.7±0.823 (P<0.0001) after intervention. In the control group, the adherence score average was 5.76±1.806 at baseline and 5.83±1.627 at 6 weeks (P=0.792). While there was no statistically significant difference in adherence score between intervention and control groups at baseline, the post-intervention difference was significant (P=0.024).
Conclusion: Our study suggests that pharmacist-led educational interviews had a positive impact on medication adherence in patients with epilepsy.

Keywords: epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs, adherence

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