Assessment of Outpatients' Knowledge and Adherence on Warfarin: The Impact of a Simple Educational Pamphlet

Warfarin is a critical medication that is broadly used for the treatment and prevention of thromboembolic disorders. Due to warfarin's narrow therapeutic index, it is crucial that patients follow an appropriate dosage regimen. Patient knowledge is one of the most important factors to safe and effective use of warfarin. Due to the obvious risks of anticoagulants administration, evaluating patients' awareness seems to be crucial. The purpose of this article was to evaluate the effects of intervention by an informative pamphlet on knowledge and adherence of patients who consumed warfarin. Two-hundred and fifty patients receiving warfarin were assigned to the study. They were asked to fill in the questionnaire. Then patients were provided with an educational pamphlet. In the second interview, patients filled the questionnaire again. Obtained data were assessed and analyzed by Excel software and SPSS version 18.0. Out of 250 patients who entered the study, 150 patients attended for the second interview. Data analysis revealed that out of 13 explanatory factors, only patients' literacy level and income were the predictors which inversely correlated with the patients' adherence (r = -0.44; p = 0.00040). Our educational intervention had a positive impact on patients' knowledge regarding anticoagulation (p < 0.0001). Our findings revealed that a written informative pamphlet could effectively increase patients' anticoagulation knowledge. Since, poorly literate patients had a lesser level of knowledge before and after educational intervention, it is recommended to develop appropriate educational programs especially designed for this group of patients.