A community pharmacist delivered adherence support service for dyslipidaemia.
BACKGROUND
Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. A key issue in management is adherence to therapy. Pharmacists are ideally situated to provide a service to increase medication adherence and optimize health outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a community pharmacist-delivered adherence support service on patients' adherence and total cholesterol levels.


METHODS
A repeated measures [baseline (t = 1), post-intervention at 3-monthly intervals (t = 2,3,4)], randomized-controlled study in community pharmacies, with patients on chronic lipid-lowering therapy was conducted. Measures used were Brief Medication Questionnaire, Medication Adherence Report Scale, total cholesterol and pharmacist intervention data sheets. A baseline t-test of cholesterol levels between groups was conducted followed by a repeated-measures analysis of variance.


RESULTS
Seventeen pharmacists recruited 142 patients (97 completions: 49 control, 48 intervention). Most patients missed either the third or last visit, thus data at t = 3 and 4 were combined. Although the intervention group started with a higher cholesterol level (5.1 vs. 4.8 mmol/l), a difference was observed in the drop in cholesterol levels of the intervention group between t = 2 and 3 (F(1,95) = 8.85, P < 0.01), and between the two groups over the study period (F(2,190) = 4.89, P < 0.05). No changes in medicine adherence scores were observed though there was an improvement in participants' exercise and eating habits.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients significantly lowered their cholesterol levels probably as a result of the service delivered by their pharmacists within the short study time frame of ~9 months.
Aslani
Parisa
P
Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. parisa.aslani@sydney.edu.au
Rose
Grenville
G
Chen
Timothy F
TF
Whitehead
Paula A
PA
Krass
Ines
I
D000368:Aged; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010595:Pharmacists; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D002784:Cholesterol