Evaluation of Patients' Knowledge on Warfarin Therapy from Outpatient Anticoagulant Clinic in a Teaching Hospital. A Cross-Sectional Study from Central Saudi Arabia

The aim of present study is to evaluate the patients' knowledge on warfarin therapy in an outpatient anticoagulant clinic teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted in a teaching university hospital at outpatient settings. The questionnaire was composed of 23 items with 2 sections related to patient's demographics and knowledge on warfarin therapy. Majority of the respondents were male (81.7%) and only 18.3% of them were females. Their mean age was 54.7 +/- 7.37. About to more than half of them 55% were university graduates. There was no significant difference in knowledge score between gender, educational status and duration of warfarin use with a P values of 0.446, 0.234, and 0.330, respectively. In conclusion, the study revealed poor warfarin knowledge among the patients. Hence, education program is necessary to improve patient's warfarin knowledge as well as patient's compliance. Also regular counseling with patients is essential.