BackgroundInterdisciplinary team working could facilitate the efficient provision and coordination of increasingly diverse health services, thereby improving the quality of patient care. The purpose of this study was to describe knowledge of interdisciplinary team working among obstetricians and gynecologists in two teaching hospitals in South East Nigeria and to determine their attitude toward an interdisciplinary collaborative approach to patient care in these institutions.MethodsThis was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 17.0 for Windows.ResultsIn total, 116 doctors participated in the study. The mean age of the respondents was 31.9±7.0 (range 22–51) years. Approximately 74% of respondents were aware of the concept of interdisciplinary team working. Approximately 15% of respondents who were aware of the concept of interdisciplinary team working had very good knowledge of it; 52% had good knowledge and 33% had poor knowledge. Twenty-nine percent of knowledgeable respondents reported ever receiving formal teaching/training on interdisciplinary team working in the course of their professional development. About 78% of those aware of team working believed that interdisciplinary teams would be useful in obstetrics and gynecology practice in Nigeria, with 89% stating that it would be very useful. Approximately 77% of those aware of team working would support establishment and implementation of interdisciplinary teams at their centers.ConclusionThere was a high degree of knowledge of the concept and a positive attitude toward interdisciplinary team working among obstetricians and gynecologists in the study centers. This suggests that the attitude of physicians may not be an impediment to implementation of a collaborative interdisciplinary approach to clinical care in the study centers.
The focus of pharmacy education has shifted from product based training to patient care which require Pharmacists to practice in multidisciplinary settings with members of other healthcare professionals. The development of interprofessional collaborative attitudes towards teamwork is known to occur well before graduation. Attitudes of pharmacists towards physicians and other healthcare professionals have influence on quality of future collaboration in patient care decisions. There is evidence to suggest that developing right attitudes during training can enhance collaboration during post-graduation team work in patient care decisions. The objective of this study is to evaluate students’ attitudes towards collaboration with physicians when carrying out pharmaceutical care services. This was a cross sectional survey study among fourth and fifth year pharmacy students. The sixteen item “scale of attitudes towards physician and pharmacist collaboration” [SATP2C] questionnaire was used to explore their attitudes. The four item Likert scale instrument was self-administered and respondents were asked to tick the option that best reflect their attitude (1=strongly agree, 2-agree, 3-disagree, 4-strongly disagree). Analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics (Students t test) and P value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Attitudes of pharmacy students towards physician collaboration was generally high, a result that was not affected by gender and year of study. Pharmacy student’s positive collaborative attitudes with physician holds better promise for integration into clinical teamwork for improved outcomes for patients after qualification. The positive attitude among pharmacy students towards collaboration with physicians should be emphasized during training to adequately prepare them for post qualification teamwork.
Background: Calcium channel blockers are widely prescribed either as monotherapies or in combination therapies in the management of hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders. One of the major challenges with this class of drugs is their association with difficult to treat peripheral edema. There is limited literature evidence on the incidence and severity of CCB induced edema and the efficacy of management practices in developing countries. This study therefore aims to assess incidence and the common treatments. Methods: A total of 193 eligible subjects were enrolled into an eight week study and allocated into three treatment groups for each drug [Amlodipine 10mg or Nifedipine 20mg]. One group received no intervention, while the other two groups received either Bendrofluthiazide 5mg [BDF] or Lisinopril 5mg depending on blood pressure or other patient factors. Edema was monitored every two weeks throughout the study using standard tools. The data were analyzed using students t test, one way ANOVA and descriptive statistics as appropriate. P values ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results/Discussion: The overall incidence of edema was about 29% at the end of the study period. Lisinopril addition to therapy resulted in significant reduction in incidence and severity of edema as opposed to other interventions. This suggests that ACEIs have a positive role in minimizing incidence of peripheral edema. Conclusion: Peripheral edema remains a complication factor in CCB therapy and ACEIs may be considered in management of edema induced by this class of drugs.
The quality of drug prescriptions is one of many determining factors of patient treatment outcomes. Irrational drug use is a significant contributor to adverse reactions and its associated morbidity and mortality among patients. In addition, it also increase the cost of medical care, reduce affordability of drugs and impose unnecessary financial cost for medical services. Evaluation of prescribing practices using appropriate tools is one of the many methods of assessing the quality and rational of drug use in healthcare facilities. The major objective of this study is to determine level of polypharmacy and drug prescribing pattern using WHO core indicators. This was a cross sectional retrospective study of prescriptions obtained from pharmacy dispensing records. A total of 5079 prescriptions over a two year period were retrieved using simple random sampling method and relevant data extracted for analysis. The result showed that antibiotics, analgesics and haematinics were the most prescribed class of drugs. The number of drugs per encounter and percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics was higher than WHO core indicators. Prescription of drugs from essential drug list and in generic names was low. This result indicated that wide gap remain between recommended standard of rational drug use and drug prescription practices that needs to be bridged if patients are to derive optimal benefits therapy. Prescribing practices were not in alignment with WHO core indicators of rational drug use. There is need to strengthen oversight of prescription practices and education of prescribers to improve drug prescription habits.
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