Impact of pharmacist-led medication therapy management in ambulatory elderly patients with chronic diseases

Exploring knowledge, attitudes and practice toward medication therapy management services among pharmacists in Yemen

Medication therapy management (MTM) refers to the activities provided by pharmacists that patients recognize as evidence of care being provided. It encompasses the services that patients value and consider valuable. Many developing nations like Yemen have had poor implementation of MTM services. Thus, this research assessed the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of Yemen pharmacists regarding MTM. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire among pharmacists in Sana'a, Yemen. They were recruited through convenience sampling. The alpha level of 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. Four hundred and sixty-one (461) pharmacists completed the questionnaire. About 70% were working in community pharmacies and 57.3% had (1-5) years of experience in pharmacy practice. The younger pharmacists had a higher level of knowledge than pharmacists with older age with median and IQR of 1.2(1.2-1.4) and 1.2(1-1.4) respectively (p < 0.001). Yemen pharmacists have positive attitudes toward MTM indicating a moderated level of attitudes with a median and IQR of 3.8(3.5-4). Hospital pharmacists expressed more positive attitudes toward MTM (P < 0.001) than pharmacists from other areas of practice. Only 11% of sampled pharmacists frequently offered MTM services. The top MTM service reported by Yemen pharmacists was "Performing or obtaining necessary assessments of the patient's health status". However, "Formulating a medication treatment plan" received the least provided MTM service among Yemen pharmacists. Even though MTM services are not commonly utilized in pharmacy practice, Yemeni pharmacists have positive attitudes concerning MTM. Efforts are needed to enhance their MTM knowledge and the value of providing MTM services as well as to develop a culture of continuing pharmacy education about MTM among pharmacists.

Pharmacy practice in hospital settings in GCC countries: Pharmacists' medication therapy monitoring activities

Purpose

Our study aims to provide an overview of medication therapy monitoring practices carried out by pharmacists in hospitals across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of hospitals located in the GCC. Questions were adopted from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) national survey. Frequency analyses were used to examine the number and percentages of specific responses to the survey questions.

Results

A total of 64 hospitals participated in this survey, reflecting an overall response rate of 52.0%. Almost half of participating hospitals (48.4%) were from Saudi Arabia. Among the 64 participating hospitals, 54.7% monitored their patients daily, 40.6% assigned pharmacists to patient care units for at least eight hours per day, and 42.2% held pharmacists accountable for medication-related outcomes. Moreover, the criteria used to identify patients requiring monitoring, 35.9% relied on the list of high-risk medications, 26.5% relied on specific medical services, 21.9% relied on directions from the hospital committee, and 17.2% relied on lab abnormalities. The most frequently utilized method for monitoring adverse drug events (ADEs) was through notifications from nurses or physicians, observed in 60.9% of participating hospitals.

Conclusion

The survey emphasizes the need for hospitals in the GCC to promote increased pharmacist accountability for medication-related outcomes, explore technological solutions to enhance monitoring efficiency and extend the presence of pharmacists in patient care units beyond the current level.

Using design thinking to strengthen the community pharmacist's role in epilepsy care

OBJECTIVE

To use design thinking to develop a community pharmacist-led intervention for people living with epilepsy (PWE) with desirable, feasible, and viable features.

METHODS

This study used design thinking. Three patient personas were created based on previous research: a newly diagnosed PWE, a well-controlled PWE, and a complex PWE with uncontrolled seizures. An intervention prototype was developed for each of the three personas. Structured interviews were conducted with pharmacists, pharmacy students, patients with diagnosed epilepsy, and caregivers to elicit feedback on which features of each intervention prototype were desirable, feasible, and viable. Interviews were analyzed using rapid content analysis. A multidisciplinary advisory group and the research team prioritized features of the prototypes to include in the final intervention.

RESULTS

The following four features were identified as desirable, feasible, and viable for a pharmacist-led intervention for PWE: (1) pharmacist-patient consultations, (2) care plan development, (3) regular check-ins, and (4) care coordination with other health care providers.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study identified evidence-based features for a community pharmacist intervention to support epilepsy care using design thinking. A pilot study to evaluate this intervention on the quality of life (QoL), health outcomes and satisfaction of PWE can inform the implementation and feasibility of such patient services.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception of Health Care Providers Providing Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Services to Older Adults in Saudi Arabia

INTRODUCTION

Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is identified as a group of services provided to the patient in order to optimize the medication use in order to mitigate adverse drug reactions (ADRs), drug-drug interaction (DDI), and polypharmacy. Elderly populations above 60 years old are at high risk for Medication-related Problems (MRPs) due to several factors. Therefore, MTM programs showed good contributions globally regarding enhancing medication use in the elderly population. Thus, evident information regarding its implementation in Saudi Arabia is lacking in the literature.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective is to assess community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and barriers to providing MTM services to the older adult population in Saudi Arabia.

METHODOLOGY

A cross-sectional study has been conducted among community pharmacists across the Kingdom. It was survey-based research that was designed and conducted through (QuestionPro). The survey was distributed for the community pharmacists from Feb-May 2023 via (QuestionPro). Descriptive analysis was performed using SAS OnDemand to analyze the categorical variables and test it with the outcome of interest.

RESULTS

Out of the 528 participants who have viewed our questionnaire, 319 participants have completed the survey in 5 min average time. Most of our participants were male, holding a bachelor's degree, and had an average working load of more than 40 h a week, respectively (84.95%, 92.48%, and 76.18%). In addition, the participants were from different regions of the Kingdom, which enhanced the generalizability of our findings. Moreover, 65.52% have reported a higher level of knowledge, while 34.48% have reported a moderate to low level of knowledge regarding MTM service. Most of those with a higher level of knowledge maintain a positive attitude regarding MTM service, its implementation, and dealing with older adult patients in the community pharmacy. In addition, lacking the time, training, and presence of a private consultation room were the top barriers to provide MTM services in the community pharmacy in Saudi Arabia.

CONCLUSION

Educational sessions regarding MTM services among the older adult population are highly recommended for community pharmacists before its implementation.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of medication therapy management: a national survey among pharmacists in Indonesia

Introduction

The use of medication therapy management (MTM) is a proven method for reducing medication errors. MTM services rely heavily on pharmacists as service providers, particularly in community health centers (CHCs). Thus, understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of MTM among pharmacists in CHCs is crucial to the strategy for the implementation of MTM program in Indonesia. This study aimed to assess the level of KAP regarding MTM among pharmacists working at CHCs and its associated factors and investigate pharmacists' perceptions of the barriers and facilitators of MTM provision in the future.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted. The respondents were pharmacists working at CHCs in 28 provinces in Indonesia. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the responses. Demographic differences were determined using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and associations were identified using multivariable ordinal regression for knowledge and multivariable logistic regression for attitude and practice. Barriers and facilitators were determined from codes and categories of frequency derived from pharmacists' responses to the open-ended questions.

Results

Of the 1,132 pharmacists, 74.9% had a high level of knowledge, 53.6% had a positive attitude, and 57.9% had a positive practice toward MTM. Gender, practice settings, province of CHCs, years of practice, and experience in MTM services were factors associated with the KAP level. Respondents perceived that the chronic disease conditions in Indonesia, MTM service features, and current practices were facilitators of MTM provision. The lack of interprofessional collaboration, staff, pharmacist knowledge, patient cooperation, facilities/drug supply/documentation systems, stakeholder support, and patient compliance were the most common barriers to MTM implementation in the future.

Conclusion

Most of the pharmacists had high knowledge of MTM; however, only half had positive attitudes and practices toward MTM. Information about factors associated with the KAP level suggests that direct involvement is essential to improve pharmacists' understanding and view of MTM. Pharmacists also perceived barriers to the MTM provision in the future, such as interprofessional and pharmacist-patient relationships. A training program is needed to improve the KAP of MTM and develop skills for collaborating with other healthcare professionals and communicating with patients.

Clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes of medication therapy management services: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Medication therapy management (MTM) services is a method that can effectively improve patients’ conditions, but the efficacy of economic and humanistic outcomes remain unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to use economic, clinical and humanistic outcomes to evaluate the multi-benefits of MTM services.

Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted by retrieving PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrial.gov from the inception to April 2022. There were two reviewers screening the records, extracting the data, and assessing the quality of studies independently.

Results: A total of 81 studies with 60,753 participants were included. MTM services were more effective in clinical outcomes with decreasing the rate of readmission (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.73 to 0.83; I2 = 56%), emergency department visit (OR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81 to 0.96; I2 = 32%), adverse drug events (All-cause: OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.84; I2 = 61%; SAE: OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.33 to 0.79; I2 = 35%) and drug-related problems (MD: −1.37; 95% CI: −2.24 to −0.5; I2 = 95%), reducing the length of stay in hospital (MD: −0.74; 95% CI: −1.37 to −0.13; I2 = 70%), while the economic and humanistic outcomes were less effective.

Conclusion: Our systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that MTM services had great ability to improve patients’ clinical conditions while the efficacy of economic and humanistic outcomes, with some of the outcomes showing high degree of heterogeneity and possible publication bias, required more future studies to provide stronger evidence.

Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=349050], identifier [CRD42022349050].

The impact of pharmacist practice of medication therapy management in ambulatory care: an experience from a comprehensive Chinese hospital

BACKGROUD

With the reform of medical system in China, Beijing municipal hospitals explored a new pharmaceutical care model and set up medication therapy management services (MTMs) in ambulatory care since 2019. We were one of the first hospitals to set up this service in China. At the present, there were relatively few reports about the effect of MTMs in China. In this study, we summarized the implementation of MTMs in our hospital, explore the feasibility of pharmacist-led MTMs in ambulatory care and the impact of MTMs on patients' medical costs.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted in a university-affiliated, tertiary comprehensive hospital in Beijing, China. The patients who received at least one MTMs and with complete medical records and pharmaceutical documents from May 2019 to February 2020 were included. Pharmacists provided pharmaceutical care for patients according to the MTMs standards issued by the American Pharmacists Association, identified the numbers and classification of the patients' perceived medication-related demands, identified medication-related problems (MRPs), and developed the medication-related action plans (MAPs). All MRPs found by pharmacists, pharmaceutical interventions, and resolving recommendations were documented, and calculate the cost of treatment drugs that patients can reduce.

RESULTS

A total of 112 patients received MTMs in ambulatory care, among them 81 cases with the completed record were included in this study. 67.9% of patients had five or more diseases, 83% of them co-took over 5 drugs. While performing MTMs, 128 patients' perceived medication-related demands were recorded in all, monitoring and judgment of adverse drug reaction (ADR) (17.19%) was the most common demand. 181 MRPs were found, with an average of 2.55 MPRs per patient. Nonadherence (38%), excessive drug treatment (20%), and adverse drug events (17.12%) were the top three MRPs. Pharmaceutical care (29.77%), adjustment of drug treatment plan (29.10%) and referral to the clinical department (23.41%) were the top three MAPs. Whereby the MTMs provided by pharmacists, the cost-saving of each patient was about $ 43.2 monthly.

CONCLUSION

By participating in the MTMs of outpatients, the pharmacists could identify more MRPs and develop personalized MAPs timely for patients, thereby promoting rational drug use and reducing medical expenses.

Impact of medication therapy management (MTM) service model on multi-morbidity (MMD) patients with hypertension: a pilot RCT

BACKGROUND

This study explored the impact of MTM service on MMD patients with hypertension.

METHODS

A total of 120 MMD inpatients from September to November 2019 were received and randomly divided into intervention group and control group. General services for noninfectious chronic diseases were given to the control group, while a standard MTM service was given to the intervention group. Patients' blood pressure, EQ-5D utility value, readmission rate, drug-related problems, and average daily medication therapy cost were compared between the two groups and within the groups. This was done at the initial admission phase and in the first, third, sixth, and twelfth months after discharge.

RESULTS

The intervention group had significantly lower blood pressure and average daily medication therapy cost 12 months after discharge compared to the control group (systolic blood pressure: P = 0.023, diastolic blood pressure: P < 0.001, average daily medication therapy cost: P = 0.049); the number of DRPs decreased in both groups 12 months after discharge; the number of DRPs solved in the intervention group in the third, sixth and twelfth months after discharge were statistically higher compared with that in the control group (P = 0.013, P = 0.012, P = 0.001); there was no significant difference in the EQ-5D utility value and readmission rate between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

MTM implementation in MMD patients can improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare-related costs among MMD patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Register ChiCTR2200065111, date of registration: October 28, 2022.

Pharmacists' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Medication Therapy Management: A Systematic Review

Understanding pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) and their perceptions of challenges, barriers, and facilitators towards medication therapy management (MTM) provision are vital in informing the design and implementation of successful service delivery. Thus, this review examined pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and their perceived challenges, barriers, and facilitators to MTM services provision, globally. A systematic search was conducted on 1-31 August 2022 to identify relevant studies on PubMed and EBSCO, supplemented with a bibliographic and a particular hand search. We focused on original research in quantitative survey form with the key concepts of "medication therapy management", "pharmacists", and "knowledge, attitude, practice". We assessed the reporting quality using the Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies (CROSS). Results are reported narratively and according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. From 237 articles identified, 17 studies met the eligibility criteria. Of the included studies, five reported that pharmacists had a considerable level of knowledge, seven suggested a positive attitude among pharmacists, and five revealed that pharmacists had been practicing some MTM elements. Factors associated with pharmacists' KAP may include age, educational degree, additional qualification, income, years of practice, practice setting, and experience in patient care service. The challenges toward MTM provision were related to the pharmacist-patient and pharmacist-physician relationship. Insufficient time, staff, compensation, and training were the barriers, while patients' willingness to participate and educational background were the facilitators of MTM provision. These findings of studies on KAP could help develop an MTM program and design an intervention to improve program effectiveness. Further research focusing on other quantitative and qualitative studies of KAP is needed to obtain a comprehensive approach to MTM provision.

The prevalence of chronic medication therapy problems and pharmacists' interventions among hospitalized perioperative patients: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Inadequate preoperative management of chronic medications can place perioperative patients at risk and cause unnecessary delays in surgical procedures. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of chronic medication therapy problems (CMTPs) in hospitalized perioperative patients and assess the relevance of pharmacists' interventions.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of pharmacist-led preoperative management of chronic medications in hospitalized adult patients from November 2018 to April 2019. The recorded drug-related problems (DRPs) were retrospectively reviewed and categorized according to the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe classification V9.1 and were analyzed with a multinomial regression model to identify risk factors.

RESULTS

A total of 254 DRPs were recorded, with an average of 0.52 DRPs per patient. Treatment safety (66.9%) was the most common DRP. The most frequent causes of perioperative DRPs and nonperioperative DRPs were drug selection (72.9%) and patient related (50.8%), respectively. Of the 292 documented interventions, 71.6% were fully accepted by the clinicians and patients. The majority (68.9%) of the recorded problems were completely resolved. The number of comorbidities (OR = 3.815) and the number of chronic medications taken (OR = 1.539) were risk factors for the occurrence of DRPs.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study suggest that pharmacist-led chronic medication therapy management in surgical wards may be an effective method to help reduce medication-related surgical risks and optimize the medication therapies used for the long-term treatment of chronic diseases.

Interventions and Impact of Pharmacist-Delivered Services for People Infected with COVID-19: A Systematic Review

Pharmacists are essential members of the healthcare team. The emergence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led pharmacists to undertake additional clinical roles. We aim to conduct a systematic review on the interventions and impact of pharmacist-delivered services in managing COVID-19 patients. We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL plus, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and Web of Science from 1 December 2019 (the first case of COVID-19 emerged) to 13 January 2022 to retrieve the articles. Cochrane handbook and PRISMA guidelines were followed respectively to perform and report the review. The pharmacist-led interventions were reported following the Descriptive Elements of Pharmacist Intervention Characterization Tool (DEPICT) version 2. The protocol of systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021277128). Studies quality was assessed with the modified NOS scale. In total, 7 observational studies were identified from 10,838 studies. Identification of dosage errors (n = 6 studies), regimen modifications (n = 5), removal of obsolete/duplicate medications (n = 5), identification and management of adverse drug reactions (n = 4), drug interactions prevention (n = 2), and physicians acceptance rate (n = 3) of therapy-related services delivered in-person or via tele-pharmacy were among the pharmacist-delivered services. Common interventions delivered by pharmacists also included optimizing the use of antibacterial, antivirals, and anticoagulants in COVID-19 infected patients. The acceptance of pharmacist-delivered services by physicians was high (88.5–95.5%). Included studies have described pharmacists’ beneficial role in managing patients with COVID-19 including detection, resolution, and prevention of medication-related problems, with physicians demonstrating high trust in pharmacists’ advice. Future research should assess the feasibility and scalability of such roles in real-world settings.

Development of a decision tree for the pharmacy-led consultation of elderly patients with haematological malignancies

INTRODUCTION

Elderly patients with haematological malignancies are a population at risk of iatrogenic for whom these activities could optimize therapeutic management. However, the limitation of human resources requires optimization of the process in order to improve the efficiency of pharmaceutical activities. The objective was to build a decision tree to optimize the pharmaceutical consultation in these population within a multidisciplinary team in haematology.

METHOD

Pharmaceutical consultations were proposed to elderly subjects with haematological malignancies followed up in a haematology day hospitalization at the University Hospital of Limoges. Risk factors for prescribing risky drugs in this population were determined by logistic regression models. A decision tree was constructed based on these results and by agreement between pharmacist, geriatrician and hematologist.

RESULTS

Female gender (aOR[CI95%] = 1.71 [1.14-2.57]), polypharmacy (aOR[CI95%] = 1.89 [1.14-3.13]), hyper-polypharmacy (aOR[CI95%] = 5.73 [3.03-10.84]) and moderate cholinergic load (aOR[CI95%] = 2.15 [1.04-4.45]) were risk factors for the prescription of inappropriate medicine. Female gender (aOR[CI95%] = 1.55 [1.02-2.35]) and hyper-polypharmacy (aOR[CI95%] = 6.19 [1-1.28]) were risk factors for prescribing anticholinergic drugs or anticoagulants; in contrast, frailty status was a protective factor for prescribing anticholinergics (aOR[CI95%] = 0.51 [0.33-0.81]). Prioritization of pharmaceutical consultations is based on frailty status, prescription of a target drug and polypharmacy.

DISCUSSION

Pharmaceutical consultations during the day hospitalization of elderly subjects with hematological diseases allow to propose therapeutic optimizations. The prioritization proposed in our study would increase the efficiency of pharmaceutical activities in order to improve quality and safety throughout the care pathway of these patients.