Investigation of the impact of pharmaceutical care on improvement of treatment knowledge and inhalation technique in asthma patients

Abstract

Introduction: Insufficient patient knowledge about asthma treatment and inappropriate inhalation techniques contribute to treatment failure. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a pharmaceutical care service for asthma patients on improving knowledge about drug purpose and adverse reactions as well as appropriate inhalation technique. Material and methods: Asthma patients with no previous pharmaceutical care (PC) counseling participated in the study, conducted in Pharmacy 'Šabac' during january-april 2010. Data were collected about purpose of drugs, adverse reactions and inhalation technique. During january-april 2013 the investigation was repeated with patients who were offered PC priorly which comprised verbal and written education about purpose of drugs, adverse reactions and inhalation technique. Results: The first group consisted of 128 and the second of 65 patients, with the same average age (56 years). Patients who were offered PC had better knowledge of drug purpose in asthma treatment (91.4-94.0% vs 62.6-75.0%, p lt 0.01) and increased number of adverse reactions (16.0-17.2% vs 3.7-7.5%). Following PC, inhalation technique improved significantly (70.8% vs 38.3% of patients, p lt 0.001) and the average number of mistakes during inhalation decreased (1.33 vs 0.43, p lt 0.001). Conclusion: Asthma patients have insufficient knowledge about their treatment and often use inhalers inappropriately. Pharmacists, by providing PC can contribute significantly to efficient and safe asthma treatment.

Uvod: Nedovoljno znanje pacijenata obolelih od astme o savremenoj terapiji i pravilnom načinu njene primene znatno može doprineti neuspehu terapije. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitivanje doprinosa farmaceutske zdravstvene zaštite (FZZ) edukaciji pacijenata sa astmom, s posebnim osvrtom na pravilnu primenu inhalacione terapije. Materijal i metode: U ispitivanju, sprovedenom u Apoteci 'Šabac' u periodu od januara do aprila 2010. godine, učestvovali su pacijenti sa astmom, kojima prethodno nije pružena FZZ. Prikupljeni su podaci o pacijentima, terapiji koju koriste, neželjenim reakcijama i načinu primene inhalacionih preparata. U periodu od januara do aprila 2013. godine istraživanje je ponovljeno sa pacijentima kojima je prethodno pružena FZZ, koja je obuhvatala pisanu i usmenu edukaciju o nameni lekova, neželjenim reakcijama i pravilnoj tehnici inhalacije. Rezultati: U prvoj grupi je bilo 128, u drugoj 65 pacijenata iste prosečne starosti (56 godina). Pacijenti kojima je pružena FZZ pokazali su bolje znanje o primeni lekova u terapiji astme (91,4-94,0% naspram 62,6-75,0%, p lt 0,01) i povećan je broj neželjenih reakcija (16,0­17,2% naspram 3,7-7,5%). Nakon pružene FZZ, značajno je poboljšana pravilna primena inhalacionih preparata (70,8% naspram 38,3% p lt 0,001) i smanjen je prosečan broj grešaka prilikom inhalacije (1,33 prema 0,43, p lt 0,001). Zaključak: Pacijenti sa astmom nemaju potrebno znanje o inhalacionoj terapiji i često greše u tehnici inhalacije. Farmaceuti, pružanjem usluge FZZ, mogu dati značajan doprinos efikasnoj i bezbednoj terapiji pacijenata sa astmom.