DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL PHARMACY AND PHARMACY PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION: Community pharmacies play a crucial role in providing healthcare services to the general population including students but there is limited research on how this particular demographic perceives and engages community pharmacies. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to investigate university students’ perception towards community pharmacies and their health services in Ekosodin community, Benin City, Edo state. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 university students living in the Ekosodin community. A self-administered questionnaire was the primary tool for data collection and consisted of 3 sections: respondent’s demographics, reasons for/frequency of pharmacy visits and assessment of satisfaction levels and actionable feedback. Collected data were analyzed through both descriptive and inferential statistics using statistical software such as the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21). RESULTS: Out of 400 respondents, 344 (86%) identified medicine purchases as the main reason for visiting the community pharmacy. The role of the pharmacist was seen as satisfactory with a mean score of 4.10 (maximum of 5) while commonly expected health screening services were blood pressure measurements and malaria parasite tests (253, 63%). The majority (273, 68.3%) were willing to discuss medicines prescribed for them with the pharmacist with a lack of privacy often cited as the main barrier to communication (239, 59.8%). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that the majority of university students were satisfied with the provided health services and perceive community pharmacists as drug experts whom they can willingly discuss medication issues with. However, the lack of privacy in the pharmacy hindered effective communication.

Access to essential medicines is central to Universal Health Coverage, yet patients continue to face high out-of-pocket costs, frequent drug stock-outs and limited formularies. The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA, formerly NHIS) aims to improve affordability and access, but its real-world impact on medicine accessibility at tertiary hospitals requires evaluation. Objectives General: To evaluate the impact of NHIA on accessibility to medicines at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive survey of NHIA-enrolled patients attending the General Patients Clinic (GPC) and Consultant Out-patients (COPD) NHIA pharmacy units at UBTH. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was completed by 311 patients (100% response rate). Data were coded and analysed in SPSS v21, using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests;
significance set at p < 0.05. Results: 311 respondents (majority 41–60 years, 58.2% male) participated in the study. Overall,
accessibility and service efficiency under NHIA were rated moderate: respondents acknowledged improved affordability, but reported persistent problems with drug availability and the collection process. Major barriers were drug stock-outs, long waiting times and poor staff communication. Statistically significant associations were observed between medicine accessibility and age
(χ²=22.0, p=0.005), education (χ²=13.8, p=0.03), duration of NHIA enrolment (χ²=16.9, p=0.02) and awareness (χ²=6.00, p=0.05). Perceived NHIA efficiency was significantly associated with age (χ²=15.5, p=0.04). A cross-tabulation of barriers/recommendations versus efficiency showed no significant association (χ²=11.46, p=0.32). Conclusions: NHIA enrolment at UBTH provides measurable financial relief and improves affordability of medicines, but is constrained by operational challenges—chiefly inconsistent medicine supply, limited formulary coverage and administrative delays. Strengthening supplychain
management, expanding the NHIA drug list, digitalizing claims and pharmacy workflows, improving staffing and instituting routine beneficiary feedback are recommended to enhance medicine accessibility and service efficiency

Antibiotics have played monumental role in the control and management ofinfectious disease since their discovery, saved lives of countless patients and improved patient care in general. However, antibiotic misuse and unnecessary use of antibiotics contributes to the process of antibiotic resistance, which is considered a global concern.The population playsan important role in abuse or irrational use of antibiotics and spread of bacterial resistance. Aim of Study: To assess the public perception towards the use of antibiotics. Methods: A cross sectional 20 - item questionnaire survey involving a convenience sampleof611 individuals was conducted in Benin City and Lagos State. The questionnaire consists of two sections; the first section comprises of socio-demographic data including age, gender, occupational status, educational level, marital status, monthly income. The second section consists of 20 items which collected data about perception towards antibiotics use. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 21 and inferential analysis was carried out using Graph PadInstant version 3.10. Results: From this study, a total of 611 respondents participated out of which 602 questionnaires were completed appropriately therefore giving a high response rate of 98.5%.Those whowerestudents had a higher perception of 69.88 ± 11.60 compared to those who were self-employed(63.52 ± 10.28) while respondents with a tertiary level of education had a better perception(70.37 ± 11.72) compared to those with a secondary level of education or lower. Older respondents had a high perception towards the use of antibiotics however in comparison to more than half of the respondents who were females; male respondents had a better perception towards the use of antibiotics. None of the items loaded had values < 0.4 which indicates their adequate contribution to the summary scores. Conclusion
This study revealed that occupational status and educational level of respondents was significantly associated with perception towards antibiotic use.

BACKGROUND: In the digital era, university students are increasingly exposed to high levels of online
engagement through academic platforms, social media, and entertainment, leading to a phenomenon known as digital overload. This study examined the relationship between digital overload, mental health (depression), and academic burnout among pharmacy students at the University of Benin, Nigeria, and explored how these factors influence academic performance. OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of digital overload among pharmacy students in UNIBEN. To measure the degree of academic burnout (emotional exhaustion and academic inefficacy) among the respondents. To examine the relationship between digital overload and mental health on academic burnout. To assess the extent to which digital overload and academic burnout affect students academic performance. METHOD: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was adopted, with data collected from 334 pharmacy students across all levels using a structured questionnaire comprising the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Student Survey (MBI-SS) and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25, employing descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and one-way ANOVA tests.

Enlarged prostate also known as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a common causeofLower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) such as frequent urination and difficulty in urinationamong others in ageing men. This study assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia among men in Urora community, Benin City. Adescriptivecross-sectional study was conducted among 500 adult males aged 18 years and above usingastructured questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into has two sections. SectionAcontained demographic data, while Section B contained symptom experience, three treatment options for managing enlarged prostate as well as the amounts respondents were willingtopay for each option ranging from ₦200 to ₦30,000 and their preferred choice of treatment. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Graphpad Instat to obtain inferential statistics. The findings showed that the total average WTP values across all treatment options rangedbetween ₦10,000 and ₦11,000, with alpha blockers having the highest mean WTPvalueandbeing the most preferred treatment option. Factors such as income level, caring for a personwith BPH or prior awareness of the disease and symptom severity significantly influencedrespondents’ willingness to pay. This study showed that economic status and awareness playsmajor roles in determining WTP for BPH treatment and recommends public health educationand financial support mechanisms to improve access to BPH care in the community

Opioids are a class of drugs naturally found in the opium poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. It refers to compounds that are extracted from the poppy seed (e.g morphine) as well as semi synthetic and synthetic compounds with similar properties (e.g fentanyl) (WHO, 2021). The term opioid is used to refer to all compounds that bind to opiate (opioid) receptors. Opioids are alkaloids that are directly derived from the opium poppy plant and the name “Opiate” can be used to describe them. Among these alkaloids are codeine and morphine. Opioids include synthetic opioids like methadone, fentanyl and propoxyphene as well as semi-synthetic opiates, which are medications made from naturally occurring opiates (such as heroin from morphine and oxycodone from thebaine). Narcotic is a legal term used to describe opioids and a few other drugs that are grouped with the opioids by law enforcement hence, it should not be used in the clinical setting (Naidu et al, 2015). Opioids have a number of impacts on the brain including numbing of pain. They work by attaching to opioid receptors on the cells of the brain. These cells send out signals that cause massive amounts of dopamine to be released throughout the body, thereby reducing the experience of pan and increases feelings of pleasure

Background:Drug therapy problems(DTPs)are a major healthcare challenge which are associated with increased cost of treatment, misdiagnosis, increased length of hospitalization, decreased patient satisfaction with care and increased morbidity and mortality. Pharmacists play a crucial role in optimising medication use and improving patient outcomes within hospitals. Their clinical interventions span medication reconciliation, drug-drug interaction identification, dosage adjustments, and therapeutic optimisation.However,the extent and impact of these interventions often remain undocumented hindering both individual
pharmacist accountability and the evaluation of pharmacy services on patient care. Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the drug therapy problem documented by clinical pharmacists at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital(UBTH) Benin between April 2015 and April 2024.Method:This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in thirteen pharmacy
departments of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital(UBTH),Benin. All DTPs identified and interventions made by clinical pharmacists evidenced by documentation were extracted. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis of clinical pharmacist interventions.The prescribers’ acceptance rate of the pharmacists' recommendation on the identified drug therapy problem was calculated by dividing the number of accepted interventions by the total number of interventions and then multiplying by 100.
Result: A total of 986 drug therapy problems were identified during the study with 48.17% of them being identified in 2023 as compared to 0% drug therapy problems in 2017. Between 2015 and 2020, only 189 DTPs were documented across the various pharmacy departments.COPD-NHIS documented the most DTPs with 135 drug therapy problems representing 13.7% v of the total DTPs documented while Main Theatre pharmacy recorded the fewest DTPs, accounting for only 1.4% (14) of the DTPs. Dosage too high is the most prevalent DTP occurring 363 times representing 36.8% whereas inappropriate adherence is the least prevalent occurring 15 times and accounting for 1.5% of the DTPs. About 22.2% (219) of these interventions were directetowards paediatrics (below 12 years) and 31.7% (313) to adults (>19 years). Antibiotics were the most affected drug occurring 249 times accounting for 25.1% of the drugs affected.It's closely followed by antihypertensives occurring 103 representing10.4%and closely followed by centrally acting drugs with 91 occurrences accounting for 9.2% of the drugs affected. About 22.1% (218) of the interventions were directed towards the males and 29.0% (286) towards the females. Of the 986 DTPs recorded, the prescribers were contacted 851 times and they accepted 847 pharmacists’ recommendations.Conclusion: Over a decade, the documented drug therapy problems (DTPs) were surprisingly low for a major teaching hospital. A review of the recorded DTPs revealed a notable proportion occurred in females, while a smaller proportion affected males, and a significant number lacked gender documentation.A significant proportion of the interventions were focused on pediatric patients under12years old, while a notable proportion was directed toward adults over 19 years old. All 7 classes of DTPs were represented with a dosage too high being the most prevalent DTP while inappropriate adherence is the least prevalent.All drug therapy problems recorded were resolved.The prescribers demonstrated a remarkably high acceptance rate of the pharmacists'recommendations for the identified drugtherapy problem, with nearly all suggested interventions being implemented, indicating a strong collaborative approach to addressing drug therapy problems

Background: Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances globally, and its use is particularly common among university students seeking to enhance alertness, concentration, and academic performance. However excessive consumption may result in dependence and other health related effects. Objective: This study assessed the habits, patterns, and influencing factors of caffeine consumption among undergraduate students of the University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed, using a structured self- administered questionnaire distributed to 381 students selected through stratified random sampling across various faculties. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests to determine associations between demographic variables and caffeine use. Results: Findings revealed that caffeine consumption was highly prevalent (91.86%) among respondents. The most frequently consumed sources were carbonated soft drinks, tea, and energy drinks, with most students (62.47%) reporting daily intake, primarily for pleasure, relaxation, and improved concentration during study. Significant associations were found between caffeine consumption and variables such as age and place of residence, while gender, academic level, and faculty showed no significant influence. The results indicate that caffeine use is a socially accepted and academically functional behavior among students, often driven by environmental and academic pressures. Conclusion: The study concludes that although most students consume caffeine moderately, there is a need for continuous health education on safe consumption limits and the potential adverse effects of excessive use. It recommends that the university health unit incorporate caffeine awareness into student orientation programs and promote healthier coping strategies for academic stress.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) is the force exerted by circulating blood against the walls of the arteries as it is pumped by the heart. It is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and expressed as two numbers: Systolic BP (the pressure during heart contraction) over diastolic BP (the pressure during relaxation). Hypertension and hypotension are two common conditions associated with blood pressure dysregulation. Accurate measurement of BP is crucial in diagnosing and managing hypertension, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and kidney failure. Body and arm positioning significantly affect the accuracy of blood pressure readings. Purpose: This study is to investigate the effect of body and arm positions on blood pressure readings.
Methods: The study checks the blood pressure of 60 student participants using a digital and a mercury sphygmomanometer to compare the difference in readings obtained before the digital sphygmomanometer was then used to measure the blood pressure of 60 staff of the University of Benin.
Results: The difference between the digital sphygmomanometer readings against mercury sphygmomanometer was determined to not be statistically significant (P>0.05). The findings show that the difference between the blood pressure values derived from the standard blood pressure measurement posture compared to the other 9 different arm and body positions used in this study was determined to be statistically significant (P-value <0.0001).
Conclusion: Body and arm positioning have significant effects on blood pressure readings, regardless of sex, age, or body mass index. Improper positioning such as unsupported back, crossed legs, or arm below heart level results in elevated readings that may lead to overestimation of blood pressure and potential misdiagnosis of hypertension. Digital sphygmomanometers can provide reliable results if proper blood pressure measurement techniques are followed.

Medication adherence remains a critical determinant of therapeutic success, particularly in the management of chronic or recurrent conditions such as peptic ulcer disease (PUD). This study assessed the level of adherence to prescribed ulcer medications among pharmacy students at the University of Benin, identified key factors influencing adherence, and examined facilitators that promote consistent medication use. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed, involving 300 purposively selected respondents. Data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire and analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were utilized to summarize participants’ characteristics, while Chi-square tests were used to examine associations between adherence levels and influencing variables at a 5% significance level. Findings revealed that 24.7% of respondents demonstrated high medication adherence, 40.2% showed moderate adherence, and 35.1% exhibited low adherence. The major barriers identified included inadequate knowledge (53.1%), forgetfulness (42.8%), financial constraints (48.0%), and academic stress (48.0%). Significant determinants of adherence were gender (p = 0.038), forgetfulness (p = 0.005), medication cost (p = 0.030), inadequate knowledge (p < 0.001), limited healthcare access (p = 0.002), and academic stress (p < 0.001). Conversely, access to free or subsidized medications (p = 0.028) and counselling (p = 0.030) positively influenced adherence levels. In summary, the findings emphasize the need for multifaceted interventions, incorporating education, financial support, and counselling to improve medication adherence and optimize therapeutic outcomes among students managing peptic ulcers.