Abstract
Background: The Drug and Therapeutics Committee (DTC) is an essential component of the healthcare system, responsible for ensuring the rational use of medicines. Effective DTCs can improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and promote antimicrobial stewardship. However, the effectiveness of DTCs can be hampered by a lack of awareness among healthcare practitioners.
Objective: To assess the awareness of the availability and functional status of the DTC among healthcare practitioners in the National Ear Care Center (NECC), Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses and Medical Lab Scientists in the National Ear Care Centre, Kaduna in 2022. The questionnaire used was a standard instrument developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Management Sciences for Health (MSH), (2007) to assess healthcare practitioners' knowledge of the DTC, its existence, composition, functions, and its activities. Data was collected through administering a hard copy of the questionnaire to the respondents and completed copies were used for data analysis. A descriptive analysis for demographic variables was computed and relationships between the demographic profile of healthcare professionals and the responses of respondents were explored using the Chi-square test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: A total of 64 healthcare practitioners participated in the study. The majority (84.4%) of respondents were unaware of the DTC. However, only 19.4% of respondents were able to correctly identify all of the DTC's functions. Additionally, only 9.4% of respondents reported that the DTC meets regularly, and only 14.1% of respondents are aware of any major accomplishment of the DTC.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that awareness of the DTC's availability and functional status among healthcare practitioners at the NECC is suboptimal. This lack of awareness could potentially hinder the DTC's effectiveness in optimizing medication use at the facility.
Keywords: Drug and Therapeutic Committee DTC, Healthcare Practitioners, Awareness, functional status, Hospital