E-drug: Review of Pharmacist Services
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[Please reply directly to Libby Roughead
<Libby.Roughead@unisa.edu.au> NOT to e-drug. If you have done some
work on the subject but are unsure whether it is relevant, please
contact Libby anyway. BS]
Dear All,
This is a request for reports of unpublished studies of pharmacist services.
Please reply directly to me, at the e-mail address below. I will send e-drug
details of the final publication when we have it finished.
The Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre at the
University of South Australia is currently reviewing and updating the
publication "Value of Professional Pharmacist Services" for the
Pharmacy Guild of Australia. This is a systematic review of the
Australian and International literature on pharmacist services since
1990, focusing on community pharmacist services.
The review will provide evidence-based conclusions on the value of
pharmacist services. It will be a valuable document for supporting
strategic planning for the development of professional pharmacist
services.
Relevant published literature has been obtained, however, in order to
reduce the likelihood of publication bias we wish to include reports
of unpublished studies that have been undertaken since 1990 to assess
the value of pharmacist services. I am writing to ask whether any
e-drug subscribers have unpublished reports of studies that they have
undertaken and would be willing to provide us with a copy (or know of
any one who has).
We are interested in studies that have assessed any kind of
pharmacist service relevant to the practice of community pharmacy.
Pharmacist services can include any pharmacist activity aimed at
promoting the quality use of medicines and improving patient
outcomes. These include pharmaceutical care, medication review,
clinical interventions, provision of drug information or education
(to patients or healthcare providers), medication counseling,
screening services, smoking cessation programs, pharmacist-run
clinics, immunisation programs, services to improve continuity of
care between hospital and community settings (e.g liaison pharmacy
services) and provision of pharmacy/pharmacist-only medicines.
We will include studies that have been conducted in community pharmacies,
outpatient/ambulatory care/primary care clinics, aged care or
long-term care facilities or other community settings. Studies from
hospitals will be included if they address continuity of care between
community and hospital (such as pre-admission clinics, discharge
medication services, liaison pharmacy services).
In terms of outcomes measured, we will include studies that have
measured the influence of a pharmacist service on:
- clinical outcomes including morbidity (incl disease progression,
symptoms, quality of life) mortality, adverse drug events,
- surrogate/intermediate outcomes - including laboratory or other
tests (e.g. cholesterol levels, BP, blood glucose levels)
- patient compliance/adherence to medication, patients' knowledge of their
medications or use of medication devices (e.g inhaler technique),
cessation of smoking, immunisation rates
- prescribing quality
- economic outcomes
The aim will be to include and synthesise evidence from controlled trials of
sound methodology including randomised (or quasi-randomised)
controlled trials, pre-test/post-test studies (preferably with a
control group). However, studies of other methodological types will
be included where controlled trials are not available.
Anyone willing to provide a study report, or wanting further
information can contact me directly (as detailed below).
Many thanks for your assistance with this matter
Kind regards
Libby Roughead
School of Pharmaceutical, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences
University of South Australia
North Terrace
Adelaide 5000
South Australia
Australia
Ph +61 8 8302 2179
Fax + 61 8 8302 2389
E-mail: libby.roughead@unisa.edu.au
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