Unlocking Urban India's Awareness of Oral Anticoagulation: Implications for Healthcare Education

Treatment outcomes for patients with arrhythmias, deep vein thrombosis, prosthetic valves, blood thinning, and cardiac issues/chest pain problems can be affected by knowledge about oral anticoagulant therapy. The primary objective is to assess the knowledge of patients using oral anticoagulants for anticoagulation therapy, and the secondary aim is to identify factors influencing the level of anticoagulation knowledge.

This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at selected community pharmacies. A 33-item, self-administered questionnaire was adopted to evaluate patient understanding of anticoagulant medication in the urban population. Scores were calculated for each part and the association between patients' knowledge. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to assess variables associated with oral anticoagulation knowledge among participants.

The mean percentage knowledge score of the study population (n=323) was 42.38±12.5. Age has been found to have a negative correlation with anticoagulant therapy knowledge (p=0.01). It was discovered that there were gaps in knowledge regarding critical areas of use and self-management, including the identification of bleeding as a serious side effect of medication, drug-drug interactions, and dose omission.

This research article highlights urban participants' knowledge gaps in oral anticoagulation. Targeted educational interventions by pharmacists are vital for improving patient safety and treatment outcomes. Advancing age was associated with knowledge. Further research could explore the long-term impacts of educational interventions in larger populations.