Evaluation of patients' knowledge of warfarin at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE: The study was to assess the knowledge of warfarin in patients using the validated anticoagulation knowledge assessment questionnaire and to evaluate the predictors of the level of knowledge among outpatients receiving warfarin at the Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: It was a prospective cross-sectional study carried out from October 2019-January 2020. During the study period a total 401 of them were included in the study. Anticoagulation Knowledge Assessment questionnaire has 29 question items, a single patient should answer at least 21 of the question to be considered as knowledgeable about his/her medication. The data was exported into SPSS version 25 and a one way ANOVA and post hoc were conducted. RESULTS: The mean age of the study participants were 36 years old (SD ± 11.83), which was ranges from 18 to 82 and majority of the participants were females (69.6%). Almost in one-third of the participants (35.7%), the reasons for warfarin therapy were Chronic Rheumatic Valvular Heart Disease. The overall AKA mean ± SD score of the respondents was 7.4 (±2.6) that ranges from 2 to 22. From those only (4.2%) of the study participants had succeeds the passing score. Educational level and the duration of warfarin therapy were independent predictors towards patient's warfarin knowledge. CONCLUSION: The overall patient's knowledge about warfarin treatment was poor when it was compared to most other studies. The longer duration of warfarin therapy and advanced educational level showed favored relationship towards better warfarin knowledge of the study participants.