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Warfarin is an anticoagulant used in treating thromboembolic disorder and requires close monitoring due to its bleeding tendencies and various drug interactions. In this report, the degree of patient´s understanding and the necessity to teach & counsel warfarin therapy were investigated through survey questions and chart review of 49 outpatients who were treated with warfarin. Forty three and 86% of the patients didn´t know the pharmacological effects and the side effects of warfarin respectively. Forty three percents of the patients experienced side effects such as bruise(14%), nose bleed(14%), hypermenorrhea(6%). Twenty two percents of patients were noncompliant with warfarin therapy. The International Normalized Ratios(INR) in 41% of the patients were unsatisfactory and some of the patients whose INRs were uncontrolled went to the hospital due to hematurea, hypermenorrhea and bleeding of eye. The results of this report show the issue of the patients didn´t understand warfarin therapy well and noncompliance was ignored. The medical team, especially the pharmacy department is sufficiently concerned about the teaching & counseling for more safe, efficient and economic therapy of warfarin. To ratify the existing problems, it is introduced to our institution
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