Impact of Pharmaceutical Care interventions in the identification and resolution of drug-related problems and on quality of life in a group of elderly outpatients in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of a Pharmaceutical Care service in the identification and resolution of drug-related problems (DRPs) and in quality of life (QoL) of a group of elderly outpatients with chronic health conditions. METHODS 30 outpatients (aged 60-75-years old) were followed between August 2003 and July 2004 at a primary health care unit in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil. Patients were scheduled monthly to meet with the researcher, who provided Pharmaceutical Care service (the intervention). Through Pharmaceutical Care, the pharmacist worked with the patient and other care providers to improve outcomes of drug therapy through focused education, care planning, and monitoring. Intervention outcomes were the number of DRPs prevented or resolved, and the impact on QoL. The Short Form-36 health survey was used to measure changes in QoL. RESULTS The mean age of patients was 66 ± 5 years, 21 of whom had low literacy. During the study, 92 DRP were identified, 3.0 ± 1.5 problems per patient. By the end of the study, the interventions solved 69% of actual DRP and prevented 78.5% potential DRP. In addition, QoL showed improvement in 22 patients after DRP resolution or prevention. CONCLUSION Despite the limitations in this study that may affect generalizability of the results, this study demonstrates that humanistic and behavioral interventions based on the Pharmaceutical Care model were capable in reducing DRPs, and improve QoL in patients.