Evaluation of Telepharmacy Services in Community Pharmacies in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Jane Osareme Ogugua, Abraham Mainaji Amlogu, Chinelo Nneka Aguiyi-Ikeanyi, Anthony Waka Udezi

Globally, pharmacists play a key role in the provision of quality-assured medicines in sufficient quantities. Access to essential medicines is a major challenge to Universal Health Coverage, however, Telepharmacy has been used in other parts of the world as a solution to poor access to medicines and pharmacists faced in rural areas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the awareness of availability of Telepharmacy services amongst residents of Abuja Nigeria, their attitude towards these services, and their readiness to use the services.

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among clients visiting selected community pharmacies that offer Tele- pharmacy services in Abuja using simple random sampling method. Data was collected with the aid of a thirty-eight (38) item self-administered questionnaire which had five (5) sections. The data collected was computed into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and Logistic regression.

Of the 381 respondents, 250 (65.6%) are urban dwellers while 173 (45.5%) have acquired tertiary education. About 305 (80.1%) purchase data out-of-pocket while 23(6%) do not have access to the internet. About 182(47.6%) are aware of Tele- pharmacy services. There was a significant association between awareness of Telepharmacy services and location of the respondent (P=<0.001), educational level (P=<0.001) and employment status (P=<0.001). About 187(49.1%) had poor attitude towards Telepharmacy services while 215(56.4%) had good readiness to adopt Telepharmacy services.

The clients’ awareness of Telepharmacy services was poor although they had good readiness for Telepharmacy services. There are several barriers that need to be overcome for Telepharmacy to be fully implemented.

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