Pharmacists help improve hypertension management

A solution: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to identify and evaluate pharmacists’ interventions in the management of patients with high BP. Studies included in the systematic review were primarily conducted in medical clinics and community pharmacies. Th e most common interventions (82%) were medication management (e.g. drug dosage adjustments), and education about high blood pressure (68%). Th is included verbal information about the disease and the role of medications, diet and exercise to help improve patients’ health. Outcomes that were further evaluated using meta-analysis included systolic and diastolic BP reductions, adherence to treatment, patients’ medication/disease knowledge, and quality of life. Pharmacist-sensitive outcomes were defi ned by the authors as outcome indicators that focus on how patients, and their conditions, are aff ected by their interaction with a pharmacist. Th e outcomes that were able to be evaluated were categorized into 4 sensitivity categories: defi nitely sensitive, possibly sensitive, possibly not sensitive, and defi nitely not sensitive to pharmacist interventions. An outcome was categorized as definitely sensitive only if meta-analysis found that a clinically important and statistically signifi cant diff erence. Similarly, defi nitely not sensitive outcomes had to be derived from