Knowledge of Pharmacists about Anti-epileptic Drugs in a Developing Country

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.