title: Pharmacists' interventions on clinical asthma outcomes: a systematic review.
abstract: The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of pharmacists' interventions on clinical asthma outcomes on adult patients and to identify the outcome indicators used.PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Scielo were searched. Studies addressing pharmacists' interventions on adult asthma patients reporting clinical asthma outcomes were incorporated.11 clinical outcomes were identified in 21 studies. 10 studies measured the impact of the intervention on asthma control. Randomised controlled trials (RCT) and non-RCTs found positive results in percentages of controlled patients and Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) scores. Discordant results were found for Asthma Control Test results. Asthma severity was assessed in four studies. One RCT found a significant decrease in the percentage of severe patients; two non-RCTs found significant improvements in severity scores. 11 studies reported pulmonary function indicators, showing inconsistent results. Eight studies measured asthma symptoms; three RCTs and four non-RCTs showed significant improvements.RCTs and non-RCTs generated similar results for most outcomes. Based on the evidence generated by RCTs, pharmacists' have a positive impact on the percentage of controlled patients, ACQ scores, severity and symptoms. Future research should report using the core outcome set of indicators established for asthma (PROSPERO CRD42014007019).
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia Victoria.GarciaCardenas@uts.edu.au.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Garcia-Cardenas
authors.affiliation: Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Armour
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Shalom I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Benrimoj
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Care Research Group, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martinez-Martinez
authors.affiliation: Hospital Pharmacy Dept, Hospital de Clínicas, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Inajara
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rotta
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Medicines (iMed. ULisboa), Dept of Social Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Llimos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D055118:Medication Adherence; D010595:Pharmacists; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome