Study protocol: systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness of pharmacist intervention on health related quality of life and clinical outcomes among patients with heart failure

Background: Heart failure (HF) is associated with severe complications, hospitalization, and poor quality of life. Patients with heart failure had poor physical and emotional symptoms, functional status and worse health outcomes.Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be to investigate whether pharmacist intervention is effective in improving health related quality of life (HRQoL) and clinical outcomes among patients with heart failure.Method: Systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted. Published journals in English and indexed in Medline (PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Scopus, and Google scholar will be searched from 1990 to December 2019. Data will be extracted by one author and will be approved by other two authors independently. Data will be analyzed in accordance with the Cochrane handbook. Standardized mean differences will be used as an estimate of the effect size. Quality of included studies will be assessed using the modified Downs and Black checklist. Analysis for the dichotomous outcome studies will be converted into standardized mean difference and present with 95% confidence intervals. The review is approved in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with registration ID CRD42020158236.Discussion: Currently there are important gaps on the effectiveness of pharmacist intervention in improving health-related quality of life and clinical outcomes. We believe this review will provide comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness of pharmacist intervention among patients with HF.