A Randomized, Single Centered, Parallel and Open labelled Interventional Study on Effectiveness of Clinical Pharmacists on Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) in Pediatric Population

Background: Adverse events are a major threat to any immunization programs, which in turn have proven to be a boon for developing nations like India. Hindering factors, such as inadequate knowledge, inappropriate attitude, incorrect practices, etc., of the guardian affect the vaccination rate. Aim: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of clinical pharmacist intervention on an adverse event following immunization in the pediatric population receiving immunization. Materials and Methods: Pediatric subjects <5 yrs of both genders receiving immunization in a tertiary care hospital during the period of 8 months were considered. Subjects were randomized into control and interventional groups. Pharmaceutical intervention was done in interventional group in the form of patient counselling, and a patient information leaflet. Adverse event following immunization was recorded and analysed for both groups along with Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice scores of guardians’ pre and post intervention through customized data collection forms. Microsoft excel and statistical software SPSS IBM version 22 was used to analyse the data. Results: The study was conducted on a total of 88 subjects (n) in which 79 were <2 years, 1 and 8 were between 2-4 years and 4-5 years respectively. Forty-ninesubjects (55.69%) were female, while 39 were male (44.31%) with a response and completion rate of 91.66%. 97.7% subjects received Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination (majority), while 8.88% received pneumococcal special vaccine (minority). Adverse event following immunization was recorded in 31(35.22%) cases. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice scores increased by 42.17%, 52% and 12.67%, respectively in guardians after clinical pharmacist intervention. Conclusion: This studydemonstrates that educational inputs, awareness programs, and proper medical professional intervention can act as a helping factor to fight against AEFI and towards the success of an immunization program.

Impact of a Clinical Pharmacist Intervention Program on the Follow-up of Type-2 Diabetic Patients

Aims: The primary aim of this current study was to investigate the impact of the clinical pharmacist interventions on glycemic control and other health-related clinical outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes in Egypt. Methods: A prospective trial was conducted on 100 patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes admitted in the diabetes outpatient’s clinics. Patients were randomly allocated into the clinical pharmacist intervention group and usual care group. In the intervention group, the clinical pharmacist, in collaboration with the physician had their patients receive pharmaceutical care interventions. In contrast, the usual care group patients received routine care without clinical pharmacist’s interference. Results: After 6-month of follow-up, of the average HbA1c and FBG values of the patients in the clinical pharmacist intervention group (HbA1c % from 8.6 to 7.0; FBG (mg/dL) from 167.5 to 121.5) decreased significantly compared to the usual care group patients (HbA1c % from 8.1 to 7.8; FBG (mg/dL) from 157.3 to 155.9) ( P < .05). Additionally, the results indicated that mean scores of patients ‘diabetes knowledge, medication adherence, and diabetes self-care activities of the patients in the clinical pharmacist group increased significantly compared to the control group ( P < .05). Conclusions: The study demonstrated an improvement in HbA1c, FBG, and lipid profile, in addition to self-reported medication adherence, diabetes knowledge, and diabetes self-care activities in patients with type 2 diabetes who received pharmaceutical care interventions. The study outcomes support the benefits and the need to integrate clinical pharmacist interventions in the multidisciplinary healthcare team in Egypt.

Impact of clinical pharmacist intervention in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common, preventable, and treatable disease characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. In 2016, COPD is the third leading cause of death globally and is projected to increase by more than 30% in the next 10 years. The main threat to the prognosis lies in the lack of disease knowledge, poor medication adherence, and health-related quality of life. Clinical Pharmacist is a key profession to improve patient care in COPD management and literature in this regard is very limited. It is important to establish the impact of a clinical pharmacist as an indicator to improve patient outcomes. Hence the aim of this was to assess the Impact of Clinical Pharmacist Intervention in COPD management in a Tertiary care hospital.Methods: The study was conducted as a prospective and interventional. A total of 53 patients were recruited in the study. The study participants were educated by a clinical pharmacist on disease state, medications, and breathing techniques. Patients have a regular follow-up after 6 months during a scheduled visit. Questionnaires were administered to all patients at baseline and 6 months to assess their medication adherence, disease-related knowledge, and HRQoL.Results: Out of 53 study participants, the majority of COPD patients 23 (46.94%) were found to be in the elderly age group of 60-69 years. The majority of the patients were in a severe category of 48.98%. Thereafter intervention assessment of COPD related knowledge showed a 33.45% improvement. The majority of study participants showed high adherence after the intervention of 46.94 %. All aspects of the HRQoL questionnaire showed improvement after intervention. The results were statistically significant. Conclusions: The Pharmacist-led COPD Intervention showed improvement in the three main aspects of the study. It confirms the need for healthcare systems to recognize the role of clinical pharmacists in both pharmacological therapy and non-pharmacological supportive care.