Pharmacotherapeutic empowerment and its effectiveness in glycemic control in patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Risk factors of early complications after thoracic and lumbar spinal deformity surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

To determine risk factors increasing susceptibility to early complications (intraoperative and postoperative within 6 weeks) associated with surgery to correct thoracic and lumbar spinal deformity.

METHODS

We systematically searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases for studies published between January 1990 and September 2021. Observational studies evaluating predictors of early complications of thoracic and lumbar spinal deformity surgery were included. Pooled odds ratio (OR) or standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated via the random effects model.

RESULTS

Fifty-two studies representing 102,432 patients met the inclusion criteria. Statistically significant patient-related risk factors for early complications included neurological comorbidity (OR = 3.45, 95% CI 1.83-6.50), non-ambulatory status (OR = 3.37, 95% CI 1.96-5.77), kidney disease (OR = 2.80, 95% CI 1.80-4.36), American Society of Anesthesiologists score > 2 (OR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.76-2.84), previous spine surgery (OR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.41-2.77), pulmonary comorbidity (OR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.21-3.09), osteoporosis (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.17-2.20), cardiovascular diseases (OR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.20-1.78), hypertension (OR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.23-1.52), diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.30-2.60), preoperative Cobb angle (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI 0.29, 0.57), number of comorbidities (SMD = 0.41, 95% CI 0.12, 0.70), and preoperative lumbar lordotic angle (SMD = - 0.20, 95% CI - 0.35, - 0.06). Statistically significant procedure-related factors were fusion extending to the sacrum or pelvis (OR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.53-4.16), use of osteotomy (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.12-2.29), longer operation duration (SMD = 0.72, 95% CI 0.05, 1.40), estimated blood loss (SMD = 0.46, 95% CI 0.07, 0.85), and number of levels fused (SMD = 0.37, 95% CI 0.03, 0.70).

CONCLUSION

These data may contribute to development of a systematic approach aimed at improving quality-of-life and reducing complications in high-risk patients.

Clinical and humanistic impact of pharmacotherapeutic follow-up in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus treated judicially

BACKGROUND

There is a lack of studies that assess the effectiveness of pharmacotherapeutic follow-up in the context of the judicialization of insulin analogues.

AIMS

To evaluate the clinical and humanistic impact of pharmacotherapeutic follow-up in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who receive insulin analogues by judicial decision in a Brazilian municipality.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental study of the before-and-after type was carried out through pharmacotherapeutic follow-up. Patients who accepted to participate in the study underwent laboratory tests of glycemic and lipid profile before and after the intervention, and underwent five pharmaceutical consultations. In addition, quality of life and health, knowledge, and skills related to insulin application techniques were analyzed.

RESULTS

28 patients participated in all stages. Of these, most were female (53.6%), with a mean age of 32.8 ± 11.6 years. After the intervention, there was a reduction in blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and increased body mass index. In addition, there was greater knowledge and skills regarding insulin application techniques, improved quality of life, health, greater number of medications used, reduction of pharmacotherapeutic problems, and improvement in eating habits.

CONCLUSION

The pharmacotherapeutic follow-up promoted clinical and humanistic benefits, with improvement in quality of life and health.

Effect of diabetes self-management education (DSME) on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level among patients with T2DM: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been a global public health issue causing in physical, financial and psychosocial crises. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) was to evaluate the Diabetes Self-Management Education or Support (DSME/S) on glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among T2DM patients.

METHODS

This SRMA was made according to preferred reporting Items for systematic review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The relevant articles were searched from four databases: Cochrane Library, MEDLINE (EBSCOhost), MEDLINE/PubMed and SCOPUS. Quality assessment was carried out. Pooled standard mean difference in HbA1c were calculated to obtain the effect size with random effect assumption. Subgroup analysis was conducted for assessing heterogeneity among the studies.

RESULTS

A total of 1312 studies were identified from databases. Among these 25 studies met inclusion criteria. From these 20 were included in the meta-analysis. In meta-analysis a pooled standard mean difference in HbA1c was -0.604 (95% confidence interval = -0.854 -0.353, I² = 90.3, p < 0.001). In subgroup analysis a significant reduction was seen among studies with less than four months, upper middle followed by lower middle income countries (LMICs), Western Pacific (WP) followed by Middle Eastern and Northern African (MENA) regions with moderate to substantial heterogeneity.

CONCLUSION

However, there is paucity of studies in underdeveloped countries. Therefore, further studies validated to these contexts are needed to evaluate the DSME effectiveness.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO database CRD42020124236.

Assessment of the complexity of drug therapy and psychosocial and behavioral aspects in people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a public health problem worldwide. The complexity of drug therapy and behavioral aspects are important factors in its management. Objective To characterize the complexity of drug therapy, attitudes, empowerment and self-care in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods Observational descriptive study involving people with type 2 diabetes mellitus recruited in eight public primary care settings in Brazil, 2018. We used validated instruments to determine the complexity of drug therapy employing the Medication Regimen Complexity Index, and to describe the behavioral aspects, encompassing Diabetes Attitudes Questionnaires, Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form and Diabetes Mellitus Care Self-Management. Results The 119 participants showed median age of 64 years (Quartile 1 57.0; Quartile 3 71.0) with predominance of women (68.1%). We found high percentages of participants with low scores on attitudes (87.9%) and self-care (84.8%) questionnaires, but with high scores on empowerment questionnaire (81.8%) in groups with high complexity of drug therapy. Conclusion High complexity of drug therapy concentrated low scores for attitudes and self-care, even though presenting elevated empowerment scores. Further studies are needed to investigate the effect of these aspects on the behavior of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus on drug therapies of high complexity.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a pharmacotherapeutic empowerment strategy for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background

The economic feasibility of pharmacotherapeutic empowerment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is still not well established.

Objectives

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of an individual pharmacotherapeutic empowerment strategy (IPES) for patients with DM2.

Methods

This is a cost-effectiveness study nested in a non-randomized clinical trial with patients ≥18 years of age, of both genders, with low and moderate cardiovascular risks. This study was carried out from the perspective of the municipal health system of Divinópolis in Minas Gerais state, and compared patients submitted to an IPES and patients who received only traditional care, 1 year before the beginning of the intervention (baseline) and 1 year after its completion (follow-up). The costs of the services offered by the municipality were computed, and in the intervention group IPES costs were included. Glycated hemoglobin (A1c) was the effectiveness parameter adopted. Cost-effectiveness ratio analyses, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and sensitivity analysis were performed.

Results

In the analysis of cost-effectiveness, it is observed that a reduction of 0.359 in A1c costs US$708.47 in the intervention group and a reduction of 0.170 costs US$1927.13 in the control group. Thus, the ICER is US$387.66 per patient/year. In the sensitivity analysis, it was observed that the IPES was dominant in 19.8% of the simulated scenarios and cost-effective in 80.2%.

Conclusions

The IPES is an alternative that presents economic feasibility for the municipal public health system scenario. The absence of randomization in patient selection is a limitation of this study.

What is the effectiveness of post-discharge pharmacotherapeutic empowerment of patients with diabetes?

The objective of the present article was to evaluate the glycemic control of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) after discharge from a pharmacotherapeutic empowerment program. The results suggest that the strategy is effective for short-term glycemic control, but the benefits are not maintained after discharge, indicating the need for the pharmacist's continuous role.