Evidence grows for pharmacist input in diabetes care
Further evidence that pharmacists’ interventions improve glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes was presented at the Diabetes UK annual professional conference in Glasgow last week.
A Cochrane systematic review (PDF 520K) of five trials showed that HbA1c levels
were reduced in all studies of interventions designed to improve adherence
to medication in which pharmacists saw patients at clinics and addressed
specific medication issues. The reductions were principally the result
of creative interventions in medicines management and care.
Pharmacists’ interventions included measuring adherence with medication
event monitoring systems, increasing adherence through improved packaging
and reminder systems and initiating insulin treatment and adjusting doses
(with patients self-testing their blood glucose). Two interventions involved
more comprehensive managed care programmes in which pharmacists delivered
patient education.
The role of pharmacists in medication adherence could be more widely
exploited, Dr Antje Lindenmeyer, research fellow at the University of
Warwick’s Centre for Primary Health Care Studies and one of the
review’s authors, says.
This could be achieved, she argues, by using education and advice on
integrating medication into everyday life to address the problem of nonadherence
resulting from either forgetfulness or regimens that are too complex
for patients.
“
However,” Dr Lindenmeyer says, “difficulties arise when attempting
to determine the effect of more comprehensive pharmacist interventions
on adherence, since adherence is complex and hard to measure”.
Meeting report p527 |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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