Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Objective
To determine the effect of a community pharmacist prescribing intervention on glycaemic control in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes.Design
Pragmatic, before-after design.Setting
12 community pharmacies in Alberta, Canada.Participants
Type 2 diabetes receiving oral hypoglycaemic medications and with glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) of 7.5-11%.Intervention
Pharmacists systematically identified potential candidates by inviting patients with type 2 diabetes to test their HbA1c using validated point-of-care technology. Pharmacists prescribed 10 units of insulin glargine at bedtime, adjusted by increments of 1 unit daily to achieve a morning fasting glucose of ≤5.5 mmol/L. The patients were followed up at 2, 4, 8, 14, 20 and 26 weeks.Primary outcome
Change in HbA1c from baseline to week 26.Secondary outcomes
Proportion of patients achieving target HbA1c, changes in oral hypoglycaemic agents, quality of life and patient satisfaction, persistence on insulin glargine, number of insulin dosage adjustments per patient and number of hypoglycaemic episodes.Results
We screened 365 patients of whom 111 were eligible. Of those, 100 (90%) were enrolled in the study; all 11 patients who did not consent refused to use insulin. Average age was 64 years (SD 10.4), while average diabetes duration was 10.2 years (SD 7). HbA1c was reduced from 9.1% (SD 1) at baseline to 7.3% (SD 0.9); a change of 1.8% (95% CI 1.4 to 2, p<0.001). Fasting plasma glucose was reduced from 11 (SD 3.3) to 6.9 mmol/L (SD 1.8); a change of 4.1 mmol/L (95% CI of 3.3 to 5, p=0.007). Fifty-one per cent of the patients achieved the target HbA1c of ≤7% at the end of the study.Conclusions
This is the first completed study of independent prescribing by pharmacists. Our results showed similar improvements in glycaemic control as previous physician-led studies. RxING provides further evidence for the benefit of pharmacist care in diabetes.Trial registration
clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: NCT01335763.
SUBMITTER: Al Hamarneh YN
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3787489 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Al Hamarneh Yazid N YN Charrois Theresa T Lewanczuk Richard R Tsuyuki Ross T RT
BMJ open 20130924 9
<h4>Objective</h4>To determine the effect of a community pharmacist prescribing intervention on glycaemic control in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes.<h4>Design</h4>Pragmatic, before-after design.<h4>Setting</h4>12 community pharmacies in Alberta, Canada.<h4>Participants</h4>Type 2 diabetes receiving oral hypoglycaemic medications and with glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) of 7.5-11%.<h4>Intervention</h4>Pharmacists systematically identified potential candidates by inviting patients wi ...[more]