Trial reportPharmacy world & science : PWS2008
Pharmacist-initiated general practitioner referral of patients with suboptimal asthma management.
Trial report in Pharmacy world & science : PWS, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Medication review and reconciliation with cooperation between pharmacist and general practitioner and the benefit for the patient: a systematic review.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2012Pooled it
- Review of services provided by pharmacies that promote healthy living.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2012Pooled it
- Physician-pharmacist collaborative management of asthma in primary care.Pharmacotherapy · 2014Trial
- Patient uptake and outcomes following pharmacist-initiated referrals to general practitioners for asthma review.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2022Article
- Development of a community pharmacy-based intervention for patients with uncontrolled asthma.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2022Article
- Relationship between the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and other outcomes: a targeted literature review.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2020Review
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of collaborative practice between community pharmacist and general practitioner on asthma management.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2019Article
- Opportunities to develop the professional role of community pharmacists in the care of patients with asthma: a cross-sectional study.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2016Article
- Pharmacist-led intervention study to improve drug therapy in asthma and COPD patients.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2014Article
- The pharmacists' potential to provide targets for interventions to optimize pharmacotherapy in patients with asthma.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2013Article
- The role of community pharmacists in screening and subsequent management of chronic respiratory diseases: a systematic review.Pharmacy practice · 2013Article
- Role of community pharmacists in asthma - Australian research highlighting pathways for future primary care models.The Australasian medical journal · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the impact of an intervention initiated by community pharmacists, involving the provision of educational material and general practitioner (GP) referral, on asthma knowledge and self-reported asthma control and asthma-related quality of life (QOL) in patients who may have suboptimal management of their asthma, as evidenced by pharmacy dispensing records. Setting Community pharmacies throughout Tasmania, Australia.
methodsForty-two pharmacies installed a software application that data mined dispensing records and generated a list of patients with suboptimal asthma management, as indicated by having three or more canisters of inhaled short-acting beta-2-agonists dispensed in the preceding 6 months. Identified patients were randomised to an intervention or control group. At baseline, intervention patients were mailed intervention packs consisting of a letter encouraging them to see their GP for a review, educational material, asthma knowledge, asthma control and asthma-related QOL questionnaires, and a letter with a dispensing history to give to their GP. Pharmacists were blinded to the control patients' identities for 6 months, after which time intervention patients were sent repeat questionnaires, and control patients were sent intervention packs.
main outcome measuresAsthma knowledge, asthma control and asthma-related QOL scores.
resultsThirty-five pharmacies completed the study, providing 706 intervention and 427 control patients who were eligible to receive intervention packs. Intervention patients' asthma control and asthma-related QOL scores at 6 months were significantly higher compared to the control patients (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively) and to the intervention patients' baseline scores (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively). Symptom-related QOL was significantly higher compared to the control patients (P < 0.01) and activities-related QOL significantly improved compared to baseline (P < 0.05). No significant change was observed in asthma knowledge.
conclusionThe results suggest that community pharmacists are ideally placed to identify patients with suboptimal asthma management and refer such patients for a review by their GP. This type of collaborative intervention can significantly improve self-reported asthma control and asthma-related QOL in patients identified as having suboptimal management of their asthma. A larger trial is needed to confirm the effects are real and sustained.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.