Effects of lifestyle advice provided by pharmacists on blood pressure: The COMmunity Pharmacists ASSist for Blood Pressure (COMPASS-BP) randomized trial

A multicentral prospective cohort trial of a pharmacist-led nutritional intervention on serum potassium levels in outpatients with chronic kidney disease: The MieYaku-Chronic Kidney Disease project

Although dietary potassium restriction is an acceptable approach to hyperkalemia prevention, it may be insufficient for outpatients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Most outpatients with CKD use community pharmacies owing to the free access scheme in Japan. The MieYaku-CKD project included a community pharmacist-led nutritional intervention for dietary potassium restriction, with the goal of determining its efficacy for patients' awareness of potassium restriction and serum potassium levels in outpatients with CKD. This was a five-community pharmacy multicenter prospective cohort study with an open-label, before-and-after comparison design. Eligible patients (n = 25) with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 45 mL/min/1.73 m2 received nutritional guidance from community pharmacists. The primary outcome was a change in serum potassium levels at 12 weeks post-intervention. The eligible patients' knowledge, awareness, and implementation of potassium restriction were evaluated using a questionnaire. The median value of serum potassium was significantly reduced from 4.7 mEq/L before to 4.4 mEq/L after the intervention [p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.156-0.500], with no changes in eGFR (p = 0.563, 95% CI: -2.427-2.555) and blood urine nitrogen/serum creatinine ratio (p = 0.904, 95% CI: -1.793-1.214). The value of serum potassium had a tendency of attenuation from 5.3 to 4.6 mEq/L (p = 0.046, 95% CI: 0.272-1.114) in the eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 group. A questionnaire revealed that after the intervention, knowledge and attitudes regarding dietary potassium restriction were much greater than before, suggesting that the decrease in serum potassium levels may be related to this nutritional guidance. Our findings indicate that implementing a dietary potassium restriction guidance program in community pharmacies is feasible and may result in lower serum potassium levels in outpatients with CKD.

Patient activation and medication adherence in adults

BACKGROUND

Patients' level of medication adherence provides conflicting results in its relationship to patient activation. Multiple factors may be contributing to these mixed results.

OBJECTIVES

The primary purpose was to assess the association of patient activation to medication adherence in adults with chronic health conditions and low health literacy (HL). Secondary objectives were to determine whether age, education, gender, and race were associated with activation.

METHODS

Participants completed self-report questionnaires regarding chronic disease self-management. Patient activation was measured using Hibbard's Patient Activation Measure (PAM). Self-report of medication adherence was determined using the Gonzalez-Lu adherence questionnaire. Block regressions first assessed the relation of demographic variables and education to adherence and then the added relation of patient activation in a second model.

RESULTS

The analyses included 301 participants (mean age 58 years; 53% female; mean chronic conditions of 6.6). Some of the most common chronic conditions included hypertension (60%), arthritis (51%), depression (49%), and hyperlipidemia (43%). The relation of older age to greater medication adherence was significant (P < 0.05) in both models. The addition of PAM was significantly related to better adherence (P < 0.001) and also increased the R squared value from 0.04 to 0.09. This change resulted in a moderate effect size (d = 0.50).

CONCLUSION

Evaluating patient activation at baseline may predict those more likely to be medication adherent in patients with low HL.

The impact of communication training on the clinical care of hypertension in general practice: a cluster randomized controlled trial in China

BACKGROUND

Hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases with a low control rate globally. The effect of communication skills training contributing to hypertension control remains uncertain. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention based on the Calgary-Cambridge guide in improving hypertensive management.

METHODS

A cluster randomized controlled trial enrolled 27 general practitioners (GPs) and 540 uncontrolled hypertensive patients attending 6 community health centers in Chengdu, China. GPs allocated to the intervention group were trained by an online communication course and two face-to-face workshops based on Calgary-Cambridge guides. The primary outcome was blood pressure (BP) control rates and reductions in systolic and diastolic BP from baseline to 3 months. The secondary outcome was changes in GPs' communication skills after one month, patients' knowledge and satisfaction after 3 months. Bivariate analysis and the regression model assessed whether the health provider training improved outcomes.

RESULTS

After the communication training, the BP control rate was significantly higher (57.2% vs. 37.4%, p < 0.001) in the intervention groups. Compared to the control group, there was a significant improvement in GP's communication skills (13.0 vs 17.5, p < 0.001), hypertensive patients' knowledge (18.0 vs 20.0, p < 0.001), and systolic blood pressure (139.1 vs 134.7, p < 0.001) after 3 months of follow-up. Random effects least squares regression models showed significant interactions between the intervention group and time period in the change of GP's communication skills (Parameter Estimated (PE): 0.612, CI:0.310,0.907, p = 0.006), hypertensive patient's knowledge (PE:0.233, CI: 0.098, 0.514, p < 0.001), satisfaction (PE:0.495, CI: 0.116, 0.706, p = 0.004), SBP (PE:-0.803, CI: -1.327, -0.389, p < 0.001) and DBP (PE:-0.918, CI: -1.694, -0.634, p < 0.001), from baseline to follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Communication training based on the Calgary-Cambridge guide for GPs has shown to be an efficient way in the short term to improve patient-provider communication skills and hypertension outcomes among patients with uncontrolled BPs.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The trial was registered on Chinese Clinical Trials Registry on 2019-04-03. (ChiCTR1900022278).

Significance of pharmacist intervention to oral antithrombotic therapy in the pharmaceutical outpatient clinic of cardiovascular internal medicine: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Optimised antithrombotic therapy requires clinical experience and an understanding of the current guidelines. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate whether pharmacist interviews and interventions with patients taking oral antithrombotic drugs in the pharmaceutical outpatient cardiology clinic had favourable clinical outcomes including decreased bleeding.

METHODS

The participants included patients visiting the outpatient clinic of cardiovascular internal medicine at the Kobe University Hospital from January-December 2017, and were taking oral antithrombotic medication. The observation period was from the first visit to the outpatient clinic to October 2021 or death. Patients who received pharmacist intervention more than twice were defined as the pharmacist intervention group. Two control patients per one pharmacist intervention group individual were selected from the non-intervention pool matched for age, gender and antithrombotic medication type.

RESULTS

Of the 895 eligible patients, 132 were in the pharmacist intervention group and 264 were selected for the matched non-intervention group. Bleeding events according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria over type 2 were significantly lower in the pharmacist intervention group compared with the non-intervention group (17.4% versus 28.4%, P = 0.019). There were no significant differences in mortality and heart failure hospitalisation frequency, stroke, or cardiovascular events between the groups. Multivariate analysis identified age (≥ 65 years) and pharmacist intervention as factors associated with bleeding (odds ratio = 2.29 and 0.51, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Pharmacist intervention in the outpatient clinic of cardiovascular internal medicine was effective in reducing the risk of bleeding in patients undergoing antithrombotic therapy.

Hospital pharmacist interventions for the management of oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer receiving chemoradiotherapy: a multicenter, prospective cohort study

PURPOSE

Oral mucositis is a severe adverse event in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy that may cause the termination of cancer treatment. In this study, we aimed to reveal the benefits of pharmacist interventions in oral health care for patients with HNC receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT).

METHODS

We conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study on 173 patients from September 2019 to August 2022. We evaluated the association between the occurrence of oral mucositis during CCRT and various factors in the absence or presence of direct medication instructions from hospital pharmacists.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight patients received medication instructions from pharmacists (the pharmacist intervention group), whereas 105 patients did not receive instructions (the control group). Logistic regression analysis showed that grade 2 (Gr 2) oral mucositis was significantly lower in patients receiving pharmacist interventions than in patients in the control group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18-0.96; P = 0.04). The time to onset of Gr 2 oral mucositis was significantly longer in the pharmacist intervention group than in the control group (hazard ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.29-0.97; P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

Direct intervention, especially when provided by hospital pharmacists, can have a real effect in supporting patients with HNC experiencing severe side effects of treatments. Moreover, the integration of pharmacists into the oral healthcare team is becoming even more essential to reduce the severity of side effects.

The effects of motivational interviewing on hypertension management: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aimed to examine the effects of motivational interviewing-based interventions on hypertension management.

METHODS

Six databases were searched from inception to 25 July, 2022 for randomized controlled trials involving adults diagnosed with hypertension and including motivational interviewing in the treatment interventions.

RESULTS

In total, 11 studies with 2121 participants were included. Compared with no or minimal additional intervention, motivational interviewing-based intervention showed greater reduction in systolic blood pressure (MD: -6.56, 95 % CI: -10.51, -2.62, P = 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (MD: -3.75, 95 % CI: -4.92, -2.58, P < 0.001). Compared with the lower intensity intervention, motivational interviewing-based intervention produced statistically significant effect on reducing systolic blood pressure (MD: -2.72, 95 % CI: -5.34, -0.10, P = 0.040); while there was no significant effect on reducing diastolic blood pressure (MD: -0.47, 95 % CI: -2.21, 1.28, P = 0.600). Four out of six studies demonstrated medication adherence significantly improved following motivational interviewing-based intervention. Two studies included self-efficacy and quality of life, and inconsistent findings were observed.

CONCLUSION

Motivational interviewing could be effective in improving blood pressure control among patients with hypertension. Future studies with more rigorous study designs should be conducted to confirm the effects of motivational interviewing on medication adherence and psychological well-being.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Motivational interviewing could be applied as a promising intervention strategy among patients with hypertension.

Information-seeking behaviour of community pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic: an ecological study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the information-seeking behaviour of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic and its relation to COVID-19 and related infections and deaths within the local prefecture.

DESIGN

Ecological study.

SETTING

Japan-47 prefectures.

METHODS

The number of accesses to a Japanese web page established by the Pharmacy Informatics Group to disseminate information about infection control and the number of infections and deaths in 47 prefectures were investigated from 6 April to 30 September 2020 using the access information on the web page and publicly available information.

RESULTS

During the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the total number of accesses was 226 130 (range: 10 984-138 898 per month), the total number of infections was 78 761 (1738-31 857) and the total number of deaths was 1470 (39-436). The correlation between the total number of accesses and that of infections per 100 000 individuals in 47 prefectures was r=0.72 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.83, p<0.001), and between the total number of accesses and deaths per 100 000 individuals in 47 prefectures was r=0.44 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.65, p=0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

The information-seeking behaviour of community pharmacists correlated positively with infection status within the community.

Effect of health coaching on blood pressure control and behavioral modification among patients with hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

Health coaching has emerged as a potential supporting tool for improving hypertension health behavior. However, health coaching efficacy on hypertension has not been reviewed systematically.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effects of health coaching on blood pressure and behavioral changes among patients with hypertension in randomized controlled trials.

DESIGN

A systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

We searched Medline (via PubMed), Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Proquest, and Scopus from inception to November 30, 2021. All randomized controlled trials that estimated the effects of health coaching on blood pressure and behavioral changes in adults with hypertension were included. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects or fixed-effects meta-analysis. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were also conducted.

RESULTS

A total of 1655 studies were screened and 12 randomized controlled trials were selected for inclusion, with 2497 participants were included. Most of the studies were at low risk of bias and the quality of evidence was high. The meta-analysis demonstrated that health coaching could significantly reduce systolic blood pressure (SMD: -0.26, 95 % CI: -0.39, -0.13, p < 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure in hypertension (SMD: -0.13, 95 % CI: -0.22, -0.03, p = 0.009). In addition, health coaching showed statistically significant positive effects on dietary behaviors (SMD: 0.76, 95 % CI: 0.08, 1.44, p = 0.02) and self-efficacy (SMD: 0.39, 95 % CI: 0.05, 0.73, p = 0.02). Subgroup analysis indicated that the most common and effective type of health coaching was the phone-based interventions (systolic blood pressure: SMD: -0.27, 95 % CI: -0.44, -0.10, p = 0.002; diastolic blood pressure: SMD: -0.14, 95 % CI: -0.25, -0.03, p = 0.02). The effects of nurse-delivered interventions were larger than other health care professionals (systolic blood pressure: SMD: -0.42, 95 % CI: -0.68, -0.16, p = 0.002; diastolic blood pressure: SMD: -0.19, 95 % CI: -0.35, -0.04, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

Current evidence suggested that health coaching could reduce blood pressure, improve dietary behaviors, and increase self-efficacy among patients with hypertension and thus could be an effective and alternative method in the management of hypertension. The most common and effective types of health coaching were phone-based and nurse-delivered interventions. Thus, more strategies and policies may be needed to implement these types of interventions to more patients with hypertension.

Exploring Changes in Attitudes, Behaviors, and Self-Measured Health Data Through Lifestyle Modification Support by Community Pharmacists: Suito-Ogaki Selfcare (SOS) Trial

Purpose

Contributing to public health by supporting people's health is the social mission of community pharmacists. This multicenter, prospective case series study aimed to evaluate changes in people's behavior and health states through community pharmacists' self-care support for healthy lifestyles.

Methods

The participants were recruited from voluntary adults aged ≥20 years who agreed to participate in the study, at community pharmacies in Gifu, Japan, between June and September 2021. Participants self-managed their lifestyles for six months while recording their health data, including blood pressure (BP), daily using devices (home BP monitor, body composition monitor, and activity meter) and a diet-recording app. They received lifestyle modification support at pharmacies at least once per month. Participants' subjective health status, attitudes, and behavioral changes were evaluated using self-report questionnaires. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, data were primarily analyzed descriptively.

Results

Fifty-four participants aged 20 to 77 (mean age: 49.6 years; female participant proportion: 55.6%) participated in this study. Their mean weekly BP shifted almost horizontally from baseline to week 24 (systolic BP: 118.8 to 121.5 mmHg; diastolic BP: 76.1 to 77.5 mmHg). At six months, 38.9% and 35.2% of the participants reported better overall health and mental health, respectively, than at baseline. Over 85% of the participants became more proactive in improving their lifestyles regarding salt intake, diet, weight loss, and exercise, although drinking and smoking habits were more challenging to change. All the participants reported that they intended to continue to improve their lifestyle.

Conclusion

The participants' responses suggested that community pharmacists' support helped increase participants' health awareness and promote their health-enhancing behaviors. However, its impact on health parameters should be further examined in future studies. More vigorous, tailored self-care support may be worth considering in developing a more effective, community-fitted health/well-being support system in Japan.

[Implementing Clinical Evidences into Community Pharmacies: Results of the COMPASS and COMPASS-BP Studies]

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has led to the development of evidence-based guidelines. The quality of guidelines has been improved by measuring their quality with The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). However, evidenced by guidelines not implemented in clinical practice or society, the evidence-practice gap has become apparent. The dissemination and implementation research, which studies methods to solve this problem, has attracted the attention of both clinicians and clinical researchers in recent years. In hypertension and diabetes, it is possible to prevent complications by maintaining good blood pressure and blood glucose levels. However, it is difficult for patients to maintain good laboratory values over the long term, and there has been no solution to this problem. Recently, it has been reported that pharmacists in the U.S. and Canada can improve patient outcomes over the long term by using pharmacies to treat these diseases. This review describes the results of the COMPASS study (diabetes) and the COMPASS-BP study (hypertension), which are the first cluster randomized controlled trials conducted in pharmacies in Japan. In addition, it discusses the possibility of implementation in pharmacies in Japan.

Meta-analysis of pharmacist-led and pharmacist-physician intervention on blood pressure control

Effective intervention is a significant component in the improvement of blood pressure control and patient adherence. Blood pressure control includes different self-monitoring techniques, mobile health monitoring, or healthcare professionals’ interventions. This study aims to compare, analyze, and interpret the effectiveness of pharmacist-physician collaboration and pharmacist- led interventions. Meta-analysis was performed using MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases between 2008-2018. Of the 51 relevant systematic reviews identified, 15 were of sufficient quality and included in the data synthesis. The breakdown of the 15 included 7 (n=2026) pharmacist and 8 pharmacist-physician interventions (n=2361). The impact of pharmacist-physician collaboration and pharmacist-led interventions on Systolic Blood Pressure was –8.22 (–11.01; –5.42) (P<0.01) and –7.68 (–9.30; –6.06) (P=0.35), respectively. On the other hand, similar correlation for Diastolic Blood Pressure for the impact of pharmacist-physician collaboration and pharmacist-led interventions was –3.55 (–4.54; –2.55) (P=0.49) and –2.58 (–3.76; –1.39) (P=0.24), respectively. These results suggest that both interventions are effective for blood pressure control. However, when two meta-analyses were compared, it was found that pharmacist-physician collaboration was more effective than pharmacist-led interventions. This finding highlights the importance of multidisciplinary approaches during blood pressure control procedures. When a holistic view is considered; especially cost-effectiveness, future studies must be diversified to encompass a broader context and impact analysis.

The impact of clinical pharmacy services on patients with hypertension

AIMS

Globally, hypertension is a major concern in all health care systems. The role of clinical pharmacists in managing hypertension is essential not only in dispensing drugs but also in actively participating in managing treatment regimens. The goal of this study was to support the role of clinical pharmacists in managing patient hypertension therapy.

METHODS

This study was designed as a pragmatic, prospective, quasi-experimental study. In this study, 160 patients were enrolled, but seven patients withdrew from the study. The effects of the intervention were studied on the remaining 153 participants. Blood pressure, MINICHAL score, and DAI-10 score were measured at the beginning and at the end of the study. The patients received different medication counselling sessions that included medication education. The counselling sessions were conducted three times, with each session 4 months apart from the previous session. The first session was conducted at the beginning of the study following the enrolment of the patients. Only the first session was carried out in person for all the participants, while the other two sessions were conducted either in person or via a phone call.

RESULTS

Ninety-three male participants (60.8%) and 60 female participants were included (39.2%), and the mean age was 44.18 (±8.385). Most patients enrolled in the study were diagnosed with hypertension within the previous 12 months from the beginning of the study. The mean changes in SBP and DBP between the baseline and final readings were 13.1 and 5.4 mmHg, respectively P < .001). In addition, the DAI-10 positive score improved from 33.3% of the study population at the beginning of the study to 86.3% of the population at the end of the study.

CONCLUSION

The interventions of clinical pharmacists were found to be significantly important in improving the outcomes of hypertensive patients. Therefore, legislation making clinical pharmacy services compulsory in Middle Eastern health care systems, and particularly the UAE, is needed to expand the roles of pharmacists within the health care system.

The impact of training healthcare professionals' communication skills on the clinical care of diabetes and hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Diabetes and hypertension care require effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients. Training programs may improve the communication skills of healthcare professionals but no systematic review has examined their effectiveness at improving clinical outcomes and patient experience in the context of diabetes and hypertension care.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to summarize the effectiveness of any type of communication skills training for healthcare professionals to improve diabetes and/or hypertension care compared to no training or usual care. We searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform from inception to August 2020 without language restrictions. Data on the country, type of healthcare setting, type of healthcare professionals, population, intervention, comparison, primary outcomes of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and blood pressure, and secondary outcomes of quality of life, patient experience and understanding, medication adherence and patient-doctor relationship were extracted for each included study. Risk of bias of included studies was assessed by Cochrane risk of bias tool.

RESULTS

7011 abstracts were identified, and 19 studies met the inclusion criteria. These included a total of 21,762 patients and 785 health professionals. 13 trials investigated the effect of communication skills training in diabetes management and 6 trials in hypertension. 10 trials were at a low risk and 9 trials were at a high risk of bias. Training included motivational interviewing, patient centred care communication, cardiovascular disease risk communication, shared decision making, cultural competency training and psychological skill training. The trials found no significant effects on HbA1c (n = 4501, pooled mean difference -0.02 mmol/mol, 95% CI -0.10 to 0.05), systolic blood pressure (n = 2505, pooled mean difference -2.61 mmHg, 95% CI -9.19 to 3.97), or diastolic blood pressure (n = 2440, pooled mean difference -0.06 mmHg, 95% CI -3.65 to 2.45). There was uncertainty in whether training was effective at improving secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The communication skills training interventions for healthcare professionals identified in this systematic review did not improve HbA1c, BP or other relevant outcomes in patients with diabetes and hypertension. Further research is needed to methodically co-produce and evaluate communication skills training for chronic disease management with healthcare professionals and patients.

Exploring Cypriot Pharmacists' Perceptions about their Role in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

Objective:

The age-standardized prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among the Cypriot population in 2017 was estimated to be 5552 per 100,000. Therefore, the CVD prevention in Cyprus is of paramount importance. Pharmacists are one of the most accessible health-care professionals (HCPs) and the first port of call for the public. In Cyprus, there are 55.59 pharmacies per 100,000 inhabitants. Therefore, the role of Cypriot pharmacists (CPs) in primary CVD prevention is essential. This study aimed to explore both the existing and potential future roles of CPs in CVD prevention.

Methods:

A descriptive qualitative study employing structured interviews (SIs) was conducted. Initially, the CPs were identified through a list provided by the Cypriot Pharmaceutical Services. The researcher(s) then contacted CPs by telephone. Face-to-face interviews were scheduled based on the CP's availability. In total, 21 SIs were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed thematically. SIs continued until data saturation was achieved.

Findings:

The findings are reported under the themes of pharmacists' knowledge and role, resources/tools available and training, communication and relations, and barriers. CPs expressed the need for training, and they are ready to have a more proactive role within the primary health care. The main barrier identified was the lack of responsiveness of the public and the lack of CP's time.

Conclusion:

CPs have the potential to actively participate in CVD prevention in Cyprus. CPs want to start offering primary CVD health services, with the smoking cessation being the first intervention.

Patient satisfaction with oral health check-ups at a community pharmacy and their effect on oral self-care habits and dental consultation behavior

Maintaining good oral health is important because oral diseases are related to systemic diseases, and community pharmacies play a key role in maintaining the health of local residents. This study aimed to examine the effects of oral health check-ups and information provision at community pharmacies on oral health-associated behaviors as well as patient satisfaction. We conducted oral health check-ups and provided information about oral health self-care to 84 patients at a community pharmacy, and then asked them to complete a questionnaire survey. One month later, we sent them a follow-up questionnaire and received responses from 66.7% (56/84) of the participants. The large majority were satisfied with the salivary test (95.2%) and the information (96.4%) we provided. Most of the participants (89.3%) indicated that they wanted to use the oral health check-up service again in the future. Compared with baseline, the ratio of participants restricting their intake of sugar-rich foods and drinks significantly increased 1 month later (p = 0.021). About 60% of those who had not undergone a regular dental examination at baseline reported newly visiting or planning to visit a dental clinic. The results revealed high satisfaction with the oral health check-up and information about oral self-care they received at the community pharmacy. The results suggested that oral health check-ups had the potential to change both oral self-care habits and dental consultation behavior. Our findings indicate that community pharmacies can contribute to the maintenance and promotion of oral health by providing oral health check-ups to local residents.

Health consumer engagement in developing novel preventive health community pharmacy roles in cardiovascular disease in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative analysis

Introduction

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are one of key leading causes of mortality worldwide. Both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors contribute to the development of CVD. Modifiable risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diets and lack of exercise are increasing in prevalence in Saudi Arabia but may be mitigated using pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Thus, identifying, assessing and managing these modifiable risks at an early stage is essential. Pharmacists are highly accessible primary health professionals and can play a crucial role in screening and managing these risk factors in collaboration with primary care physicians. There is currently no research in Saudi Arabia exploring the views of health consumers with CVD risk factors regarding their preferences for or willingness to engage with community pharmacy CVD preventive health services.

Objectives

To explore the perceptions of health consumers about current and feasible future services by pharmacists with a specific focus on CVD risk screening and management in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with consumers with at least one modifiable CVD risk factor. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated into English and then thematically analysed.

Results

A total of 25 individuals, most of whom were Saudi (88%) and women (65%), participated in face to face interviews. Five main themes emerged from the analysis of consumers’ responses. 1. Perception of pharmacists’ role, the pharmacists’ main role was perceived as medication supply. 2. Trust and satisfaction with current service, most participants appeared to have low trust in pharmacists. 3. Preferences for future pharmacy services, most participants were willing to engage in future pharmacy delivered CVD preventive health services, provided there was stringent regulation and oversight of the quality of such services. 4. Viability of new pharmacy services was raised with promotion of such services to the public, collaboration with other health professionals, financial incentivization and motivational rewards thought of as essential ingredient to ensure service feasibility. 5. Health beliefs and help seeking behaviours of consumers were diverse and low health literacy was evident; it was thought that pharmacists can help in these matters by educating and advocating for such consumers. Overall, the data suggested that clinical, communication and professional skills need to be enhanced among Saudi pharmacists to enable them to provide optimal patient cantered services.

Conclusion

Health consumers participants were willing to participate and utilise CVD risk screening and management pharmacy-based services, when offered, provided their concerns are addressed. Therefore, in light of the burden of CVD disease in the country, development, implementation and evaluation of pharmacist provided CVD risk screening and management should be undertaken.

Pharmacists interventions using Bluetooth technology and telehealth to improve blood pressure-A pilot study

OBJECTIVES

To assess patients' knowledge of blood pressure (BP) and their comfort level with using technology, including a Bluetooth-enabled BP device and pharmacist telemonitoring. The secondary objective was to discover if pharmacist interventions improved BP readings.

SETTING

The study took place in Pharmacy Plus and the Family Medicine Department at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL.

PRACTICE DESCRIPTION

The pharmacists within Pharmacy Plus and the Family Medicine Department are part of the interdisciplinary team providing care to patients and seeking to achieve optimal patient outcomes. Pharmacy Plus breaks away from the traditional behind-the-counter model using innovative technology to create a personalized experience for patients.

PRACTICE INNOVATION

During this pilot study, the patients received a Bluetooth-enabled BP monitor and were asked to obtain their BP readings at least once daily for 6 weeks. The patients' electronic health records automatically captured the BP readings, which were reviewed by the study pharmacists. The patients had an appointment with the pharmacists once weekly via a telehealth platform through which they were counseled on their weekly average BP, BP goals, lifestyle modifications, and proper use of the devices.

EVALUATION

The patients completed a prestudy survey assessing their baseline knowledge of BP, comfort level when using technology, and ease in working with pharmacists. Reliability and satisfaction in using the BP device and telehealth communication with pharmacists were also assessed poststudy.

RESULTS

Twelve patients enrolled, with 9 completing the study. There was a statistically significant increase in patients' knowledge of BP and an improvement in the recommended lifestyle modifications. In addition, comfort level regarding communication with the pharmacist was statistically significantly improved. The patients responded positively to using the Bluetooth-enabled BP monitor and telehealth for receiving health care services.

CONCLUSION

Using Bluetooth-enabled BP monitors that report results in real time into electronic health records, along with pharmacist interventions within a team-based care model, may result in improved BP control and patient outcomes.

Quality evaluation of community pharmacy blood pressure (BP) screening services: an English cross-sectional survey with geospatial analysis

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective was to assess the accuracy (calibration and validation status) of digital blood pressure (BP) monitors used within community pharmacy in England and the secondary objectives were to assess the overall quality of the BP service by assessing service prevalence, service utilisation and other in-service considerations.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

Primary-care retail-pharmacies.

PARTICIPANTS

500 pharmacies that contribute to government dispensing-data were invited by post to complete the survey. Private contractors were excluded.

INTERVENTIONS

We conducted a questionnaire survey with a follow-up (September 2018 to December 2018).

RESULTS

109 responses were received. 61% (n=66) of responding pharmacies provided a free BP check to their patients. 40 (61%) pharmacies used recommended validated clinical metres, 6 (9%) had failed validation and 20 (30%) provided too little information to enable us to determine their monitor's status.

CONCLUSIONS

Responding pharmacies were able to provide useful BP monitoring services to their patients, though quality enhancements need to be implemented. Majority of pharmacies use validated BP monitors, however, there was a lack of range of cuff sizes, variation in replacement and calibration of monitors and apparent absence of such practice in a minority of pharmacies alongside variation in training standards. We noted higher frequency of BP screening in the most deprived postcodes.We recommend in-service redesign and delivery improvements, and suggest professional bodies and researchers work together to create clearer frameworks for front-line practitioners, creating appropriate incentives to facilitate this service redesign.Funders and policy setters should consider the value added to the National Health Service and other healthcare agencies of such screening by pharmacy providers both nationally and internationally. It has the potential to reduce complications of undiagnosed hypertension and the medicines burden that it creates. Future work should examine the impact of pharmacist-led BP screening on patients.

Community pharmacy interventions for health promotion: effects on professional practice and health outcomes

BACKGROUND

Community pharmacies are an easily accessible and cost-effective platform for delivering health care worldwide, and the range of services provided has undergone rapid expansion in recent years. Thus, in addition to dispensing medication, pharmacy workers within community pharmacies now give advice on a range of health-promoting behaviours that aim to improve health and to optimise the management of long-term conditions. However, it remains uncertain whether these health-promotion interventions can change the professional practice of pharmacy workers, improve health behaviours and outcomes for pharmacy users and have the potential to address health inequalities.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness and safety of health-promotion interventions to change community pharmacy workers' professional practice and improve outcomes for users of community pharmacies.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, six other databases and two trials registers to 6 February 2018. We also conducted reference checking, citation searches and contacted study authors to identify any additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised trials of health-promotion interventions in community pharmacies targeted at, or delivered by, pharmacy workers that aimed to improve the health-related behaviour of people attending the pharmacy compared to no treatment, or usual treatment received in the community pharmacy. We excluded interventions where there was no interaction between pharmacy workers and pharmacy users, and those that focused on medication use only.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We used standard procedures recommended by Cochrane and the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care review group for both data collection and analysis. We compared intervention to no intervention or to usual treatment using standardised mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) (higher scores represent better outcomes for pharmacy user health-related behaviour and quality of life, and lower scores represent better outcomes for clinical outcomes, costs and adverse events). Interpretation of effect sizes (SMD) was in line with Cochrane recommendations.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 57 randomised trials with 16,220 participants, described in 83 reports. Forty-nine studies were conducted in high-income countries, and eight in middle-income countries. We found no studies that had been conducted in low-income countries. Most interventions were educational, or incorporated skills training. Interventions were directed at pharmacy workers (n = 8), pharmacy users (n = 13), or both (n = 36). The clinical areas most frequently studied were diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and modification of cardiovascular risk. Duration of follow-up of interventions was often unclear. Only five studies gave details about the theoretical basis for the intervention, and studies did not provide sufficient data to comment on health inequalities. The most common sources of bias were lack of protection against contamination - mainly in individually randomised studies - and inadequate blinding of participants. The certainty of the evidence for all outcomes was moderate. We downgraded the certainty because of the heterogeneity across studies and evidence of potential publication bias. Professional practice outcomes We conducted a narrative analysis for pharmacy worker behaviour due to high heterogeneity in the results. Health-promotion interventions probably improve pharmacy workers' behaviour (2944 participants; 9 studies; moderate-certainty evidence) when compared to no intervention. These studies typically assessed behaviour using a simulated patient (mystery shopper) methodology. Pharmacy user outcomes Health-promotion interventions probably lead to a slight improvement in health-related behaviours of pharmacy users when compared to usual treatment (SMD 0.43, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.72; I² = 89%; 10 trials; 2138 participants; moderate-certainty evidence). These interventions probably also lead to a slight improvement in intermediate clinical outcomes, such as levels of cholesterol or glycated haemoglobin, for pharmacy users (SMD -0.43, 95% CI -0.65 to -0.21; I² = 90%; 20 trials; 3971 participants; moderate-certainty evidence). We identified no studies that evaluated the impact of health-promotion interventions on event-based clinical outcomes, such as stroke or myocardial infarction, or the psychological well-being of pharmacy users. Health-promotion interventions probably lead to a slight improvement in quality of life for pharmacy users (SMD 0.29, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.50; I²= 82%; 10 trials, 2687 participants; moderate-certainty evidence). Adverse events No studies reported adverse events for either pharmacy workers or pharmacy users. Costs We found that health-promotion interventions are likely to be cost-effective, based on moderate-certainty evidence from five of seven studies that reported an economic evaluation.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Health-promotion interventions in the community pharmacy context probably improve pharmacy workers' behaviour and probably have a slight beneficial effect on health-related behaviour, intermediate clinical outcomes, and quality of life for pharmacy users. Such interventions are likely to be cost-effective and the effects are seen across a range of clinical conditions and health-related behaviours. Nevertheless the magnitude of the effects varies between conditions, and more effective interventions might be developed if greater consideration were given to the theoretical basis of the intervention and mechanisms for effecting behaviour change.

Changes in community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding the management of hypertension before and after educational interventions

Objective: To clarify changes in community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding the management of hypertension before and after attending educational interventions based on their self-report on a questionnaire survey.Method: We conducted questionnaire surveys regarding the management of hypertension with a sample of community pharmacists before and after educational interventions.Results: The proportions of pharmacists who knew the 2014 Japanese Society of Hypertension Guidelines, guidelines for home blood pressure measurement, reference values for hypertension based on clinic-measured blood pressure, and reference values for hypertension based on home-measured blood pressure after the educational interventions (59.3%, 41.4%, 75.1%, and 70.8% respectively) were significantly higher relative to those recorded before interventions (31.6%, 13.7%, 47.7%, and 25.4% respectively).Conclusions: These findings suggest that in-house training might increase the knowledge of community pharmacists regarding hypertension management.

The change in pharmacists’ attitude, confidence and job satisfaction following participation in a novel hypertension support service

Objectives

To demonstrate how the confidence, attitude and job satisfaction of pharmacists who provide interventions and lifestyle support services to patients with hypertension are altered.

Methods

This study was a before-and-after study that used data from 50 pharmacists who participated in the Community Pharmacists Assist for Blood Pressure (COMPASS-BP) study, which was an interventional study that was conducted in Japan to evaluate the effects of lifestyle support services provided to hypertension patients. The pharmacists received 4 h of training before the study was initiated to learn how to quickly provide patients with guidance about diet and exercise and tobacco and alcohol consumption. During the interventional period, each pharmacist provided concise lifestyle guidance to 1–3 hypertension patients. The pharmacists met with the patients a total of 5 times. The parameters that were assessed were the pharmacists’ attitudes towards and confidence in their lifestyle support services, as well as their level of job satisfaction. We verified the scores of each parameter assessed before and after the study, as well as changes in the relationships among the different parameters.

Key findings

Significant increases from baseline to the end of the study were observed for Confidence (P &lt; 0.01), Job satisfaction, including ‘Knowledge’ (P &lt; 0.01), ‘Patient counselling management’ (P = 0.04) and ‘Sense of personal growth’ (P &lt; 0.01). Additionally, path analysis results revealed that after the study, the causal relationship between ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Attitude’ disappeared, and a new causal relationship appeared between ‘Patient counselling and management’ and ‘Attitude’.

Conclusions

Providing lifestyle guidance improved pharmacists’ confidence and attitude. Also, ‘Attitude’ tended to improve as the ‘Patient counselling and management’ score increased.

Cardiovascular disease risk screening by pharmacists: a behavior change wheel guided qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND

In common with many developed countries, Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing an increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden. However, systematic screening programs for early identification and minimization of CVD risk within community or general clinical settings are limited. Globally, research suggests that pharmacists can play an effective role in identifying, assessing, managing and referring people at risk of CVD in the community as well as in the hospital setting. This role is not yet developed in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore the perspectives of hospital and community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia about potential roles in CVD risk screening. The purpose of the study was to propose potential interventions to facilitate the development of pharmacist delivered models for CVD risk prevention and management services in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with a purposive convenience sample of hospital and community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. Data collection continued until saturation was achieved. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 50 pharmacists (26 hospital and 24 community pharmacists) participated in this study. Twenty hospital and eight community pharmacists were interviewed individually, while the remaining participants contributed to three focus groups discussions. Currently, it appears that CVD risk prevention services are rarely provided, and when offered involved provision of discrete elements only such as blood pressure measurement, rather than a consolidated evidence based approach to risk assessment. Participating pharmacists did not appear to have a clear understanding of how to assess CVD risk. Four key themes were identified: pharmacists' perception about their current roles in CVD, proposed future clinical and service roles, impeding factors and enabling factors. Subthemes were mainly related to determinants likely to influence future CVD services. These subthemes included public perception of pharmacists' roles, pharmacist-physician collaboration, legislative restrictions, systemic issues, sociocultural barriers, organizational pharmacy issues, lack of professional motivation, government and organizational support and professional pharmacy support frameworks. These influencing factors need to be addressed at micro, meso and macro systems level in order to facilitate development of new pharmacist delivered cognitive services in Saudi Arabia.

CONCLUSIONS

Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia are willing to expand their role and offer pharmacy-based services, but influencing determinants have to be addressed at the individual, professional and health system levels. Further work is needed to clarify and develop practical and appropriate protocols for pharmacist CVD prevention and management services within the Saudi public and health care system. Such work should be guided by implementation science frameworks rather than embarking on conventional research trial pipelines where public benefit of generated evidence is delayed or limited.

[The Effectiveness of Counseling Using Preventative Informational Sheets with Climate and Environmental Data from Insurance Pharmacies in Preventing Worsened Asthma Symptoms]

We investigated the possibility that having pharmacists give asthma patients informational sheets on climate and environmental changes at insurance pharmacies during patient counseling might prevent the worsening of asthma symptoms. Patients with hyperlipidemia were comparative subjects. We created informational sheets about climate and environmental changes and their influence on asthma. During patient counseling, pharmacists gave them to all asthma patients who visited insurance pharmacies over a period of 2 months, between November and December 2017. Based on previous studies, we called days which showed certain climate or environmental changes as compared to the previous day "change days". We compared the number of visiting patients on change days after preventative information was provided (between January and March 2018) with the number before information was provided (between January and March 2017). In addition, we compared those numbers with the number of patients who visited the target pharmacies between January and March 2016 in order to examine the influence of yearly climate change. The same procedure was used with hyperlipidemic patients. The number of visiting asthma patients after information was provided significantly decreased (5.1±2.1, p=0.03) compared with the number before information was provided, between January and March 2017 (6.1±2.8). The number of aforementioned visits compared to those between January and March 2016 also significantly decreased (p=0.01). Our results suggest that preventative information about climate and environmental changes provided by pharmacists during patient counseling might influence the number of asthma patient visits and prevent the exacerbation of their symptoms.

Pharmacist services for non-hospitalised patients

BACKGROUND

This review focuses on non-dispensing services from pharmacists, i.e. pharmacists in community, primary or ambulatory-care settings, to non-hospitalised patients, and is an update of a previously-published Cochrane Review.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the effect of pharmacists' non-dispensing services on non-hospitalised patient outcomes.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, two other databases and two trial registers in March 2015, together with reference checking and contact with study authors to identify additional studies. We included non-English language publications. We ran top-up searches in January 2018 and have added potentially eligible studies to 'Studies awaiting classification'.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised trials of pharmacist services compared with the delivery of usual care or equivalent/similar services with the same objective delivered by other health professionals.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We used standard methodological procedures of Cochrane and the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group. Two review authors independently checked studies for inclusion, extracted data and assessed risks of bias. We evaluated the overall certainty of evidence using GRADE.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 116 trials comprising 111 trials (39,729 participants) comparing pharmacist interventions with usual care and five trials (2122 participants) comparing pharmacist services with services from other healthcare professionals. Of the 116 trials, 76 were included in meta-analyses. The 40 remaining trials were not included in the meta-analyses because they each reported unique outcome measures which could not be combined. Most trials targeted chronic conditions and were conducted in a range of settings, mostly community pharmacies and hospital outpatient clinics, and were mainly but not exclusively conducted in high-income countries. Most trials had a low risk of reporting bias and about 25%-30% were at high risk of bias for performance, detection, and attrition. Selection bias was unclear for about half of the included studies.Compared with usual care, we are uncertain whether pharmacist services reduce the percentage of patients outside the glycated haemoglobin target range (5 trials, N = 558, odds ratio (OR) 0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 2.22; very low-certainty evidence). Pharmacist services may reduce the percentage of patients whose blood pressure is outside the target range (18 trials, N = 4107, OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.55; low-certainty evidence) and probably lead to little or no difference in hospital attendance or admissions (14 trials, N = 3631, OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.11; moderate-certainty evidence). Pharmacist services may make little or no difference to adverse drug effects (3 trials, N = 590, OR 1.65, 95% CI 0.84 to 3.24) and may slightly improve physical functioning (7 trials, N = 1329, mean difference (MD) 5.84, 95% CI 1.21 to 10.48; low-certainty evidence). Pharmacist services may make little or no difference to mortality (9 trials, N = 1980, OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.12, low-certaintly evidence).Of the five studies that compared services delivered by pharmacists with other health professionals, no studies evaluated the impact of the intervention on the percentage of patients outside blood pressure or glycated haemoglobin target range, hospital attendance and admission, adverse drug effects, or physical functioning.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate that pharmacist services have varying effects on patient outcomes compared with usual care. We found no studies comparing services delivered by pharmacists with other healthcare professionals that evaluated the impact of the intervention on the six main outcome measures. The results need to be interpreted cautiously because there was major heterogeneity in study populations, types of interventions delivered and reported outcomes.There was considerable heterogeneity within many of the meta-analyses, as well as considerable variation in the risks of bias.