Impact of Pharmaceutical Care interventions in the identification and resolution of drug-related problems and on quality of life in a group of elderly outpatients in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil
- 1 December 2007
- journal article
- Vol. 3 (6), 989-998
Abstract
To evaluate the impact of a Pharmaceutical Care service in the identification and resolution of drug-related problems (DRPs) and in quality of life (QoL) of a group of elderly outpatients with chronic health conditions. 30 outpatients (aged 60–75-years old) were followed between August 2003 and July 2004 at a primary health care unit in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil. Patients were scheduled monthly to meet with the researcher, who provided Pharmaceutical Care service (the intervention). Through Pharmaceutical Care, the pharmacist worked with the patient and other care providers to improve outcomes of drug therapy through focused education, care planning, and monitoring. Intervention outcomes were the number of DRPs prevented or resolved, and the impact on QoL. The Short Form-36 health survey was used to measure changes in QoL. The mean age of patients was 66 ± 5 years, 21 of whom had low literacy. During the study, 92 DRP were identified, 3.0 ± 1.5 problems per patient. By the end of the study, the interventions solved 69% of actual DRP and prevented 78.5% potential DRP. In addition, QoL showed improvement in 22 patients after DRP resolution or prevention. Despite the limitations in this study that may affect generalizability of the results, this study demonstrates that humanistic and behavioral interventions based on the Pharmaceutical Care model were capable in reducing DRPs, and improve QoL in patients.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- Humanistic-outcomes questionnaires in diabetes research and practiceAmerican Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 2005
- The Asheville Project: Short-Term Outcomes of a Community Pharmacy Diabetes Care ProgramJournal of the American Pharmaceutical Association, 2003
- Identification of Essential Elements in the Documentation of Pharmacist-Provided CareJournal of the American Pharmaceutical Association, 2003
- The Prescription-Drug ProblemThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2002
- Current perspectives on patient education in the USPatient Education and Counseling, 2001
- Item Response Theory and Health Outcomes Measurement in the 21st CenturyMedical Care, 2000
- The Relationship between Drug Therapy Noncompliance and Patient Characteristics, Health‐Related Quality of Life, and Health Care CostsPharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy, 2000
- Characteristics of ambulatory care clinics and pharmacists in Veterans Affairs medical centersAmerican Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 1998
- Quality of life assessment by community pharmacists: an exploratory studyQuality of Life Research, 1998
- Indicators for the selection of ambulatory patients who warrant pharmacist monitoringAmerican Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 1989