Knowledge on prescribed artemether-lumefantrine among outpatients and caretakers attending Temeke hospital: patients’ fundamental rights

Abstract

Patients have fundamental rights and dignity of receiving adequate information regarding their illness and therapeutic management. Comprehension of information is essential for good adherence to the prescribed drugs and for participating in decision making about treatments as recommended in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) article 19. In spite of existence of such covenants,Tanzania has recorded up to 85.1% of patients who do not adhere to prescribed ALU drugs; probably due to poor comprehension of instructions. General Objective: The main objective of this study to assess the knowledge on prescribed ALu among outpatients and caretakers attending Temeke hospital. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study involving 224 outpatients and caregivers who were attending at Temeke Hospital and received Artemether-lumefantrine(ALU) drugs. A self administered questionnaire was used. Data analysis was analyzed by using SPSS version 20.0. Frequency distributions were generated; then Chi-square was used to compare proportions of participants with high and low knowledge and the associated factors. P ≤0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Majority of participants 172 (76.8%) of 224 received more than three types of drugs along with the prescribed ALu. Only 105 (46.9%) understood the Interval of hours required to take ALu pills; their knowledge did not vary with sex. However those with university/college education (74.1%) were more likely to be knowledgeable as compared to those with primary or lower education (45%). Fifty eight percent of participants did not understand the number of days required to complete ALu dosage, while only 114 (50.9%) understood the instructions written on the ALu package. When asked about the consequences associated with incomplete ALu dosage, 176 (78.6%) did not understand the risks of not completing ALu dosage. More than half (58.5%) of participants were not satisfied with the information given by health workers about risks and benefits of the prescribed ALu. The Majority (84.8%) of participants did not discuss with care provider about managing the prescribed ALu. In this regard 198 (89.2%) of participants did not get an opportunity to ask any question about the prescribed ALu medication. Conclusion: Finally this study revealed that, nearly half of patients neither knew the interval of hours required to take ALu nor did they know the number of days required to complete the ALu dosage. Those with higher education were more likely to be knowledgeable. Most patients did not get an opportunity to ask questions related to the prescribed medicine because there was little provision for discussion with the care provider. Recommendation: It is recommended that; health care providers have to observe their moral obligation of spending sufficient time with their patients to ensure that their instructions are well comprehended by their patients.