Evaluation of a community pharmacy-based medication therapy management programme: A study protocol of a pilot randomized controlled trial with an embedded qualitative study

Objectives

The main objectives are: to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a community-pharmacy based medication therapy management programme; to explore patients’ experiences and views towards medication therapy management service delivered by community pharmacists.

Research design and methods

A mixed-methods research design consisting of a pilot randomized controlled trial embedded with qualitative study will be used in this study. The study consists of two phases: a 6-month follow-up pilot randomized control trial (quantitative approach) to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a community pharmacy-based medication therapy management programme. The primary outcome is HbA1C and secondary outcomes include: clinical and health services utilization and process measures, medication adherence, diabetes distress as well as satisfaction with care. Phase two consists of an embedded qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore patients’ experiences and views with the medication therapy management programme. Study data collection will be collected between April 2021 and December 2021.

Ethics consideration

The study has been approved by institutional review boards from Princess Nourah bent Abdulrahman University (Approval # 20–0240), King Fahad Medical City (Approval # 20-388E) and Birmingham University (Approval # ERN_20-0768).

Roles of community pharmacists in improving oral health awareness in Plateau State, Northern Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

There is poor oral health awareness in Nigeria because of limited access to correct information on oral health as well as a lack of oral health-care providers. The purpose of this study was to describe the roles of community pharmacists (CPs) in Plateau State, Northern Nigeria, as sources of oral health information in their communities.

METHODS

A quantitative cross-sectional study on CPs spanning the entire State. Data collection was a survey method using a structured paper-based self-administered questionnaire. Analysis, which included t-tests and binary logistic regression, was carried out using SPSS ver. 23.

RESULTS

A one-sample t-test to assess the attitudes of CPs on oral health showed that they had a very good disposition towards engaging in oral health services [advice, referrals, recommendations and basic treatment (e.g. of pain); mean  = 4.54, standard deviation  = 0.59, t(111) = 27.8, P < 0.001]. Although CPs presently provide some services to patients with oral health problems, 94.7% were willing to do more to advance the cause of oral health care. Training of CPs on oral health (32%), removal of restrictive policies in the health bill (1.8%) and sensitising the public (6.3%) were some suggestions on how to improve these services.

CONCLUSION

The disposition of CPs towards improving oral health could serve as a platform to help propagate oral health care and awareness in their communities. Engaging the CPs might help to reduce oral health disparities by increasing oral health awareness and improving the quality of life via cost-effective delivery of pharmacy-based oral health-care services.

Role of community pharmacists in providing oral health advice in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia

Objective

To determine the frequency of patients seeking oral health advice and willingness of community pharmacists to provide oral health information in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study with sample size (n = 332) of randomly selected community pharmacists across the province. The questionnaire comprised of 25 questions divided into 3 sections. Frequency distributions of different categorical variables were calculated and Pearson's chi-square tests were performed to compare categorical variables. Statistical significance was determined at p-value <0.05%. SPSS version 22 was used for statistical analyses.

Results

Of the 332 pharmacists, 279 agreed to participate in the study, yielding a response rate of 84%. About 71% of pharmacists provided less than 30 oral health advices and 29% of them gave ≥30 oral health advices daily. Oral ulcer (64.2%), dental pain (59.5%) and bleeding gums (54.5%) were the three most common oral conditions encountered by the pharmacists. More pharmacists (90%) were approached for advice about tooth whitening products, tooth brush and mouth wash in large cities compared with 66.7% of pharmacists in small cities of the province. Lack of interaction with dental professionals was recognized the most important barrier to providing oral health services to the clients. Almost one third (35.8%) had formal oral health training in their undergraduate program and only 26.5% of them were always confident in providing oral health advices. Majority (93.5%) of respondents recognized their important role in providing oral health advices and 98.2% were enthusiastic to provide oral health information.

Conclusions

Community pharmacists are approached frequently for oral healthcare advices. Majority of them had no oral health training. Almost all of them were willing to provide oral health information in the community. It is essential to provide continuous oral health education to the pharmacists to better serve oral health needs of the community.