Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27207626›Full record

Trial reportBMJ open2016

Optimising the changing role of the community pharmacist: a randomised trial of the impact of audit and feedback.

Nancy Winslade, Tewodros Eguale, Robyn Tamblyn

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Audit and feedback: effects on professional practice.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Professional pharmacy Services' outcomes performance measurement: A narrative review.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Audit and feedback in community pharmacy: An untapped strategy of quality improvement.Canadian pharmacists journal : CPJ = Revue des pharmaciens du Canada : RPC
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Nancy WinsladeDepartment of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Tewodros EgualeDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Robyn TamblynDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
McGill University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo evaluate the impact of comparative performance feedback to community pharmacists on provision of professional services and the quality of patients' medication use.

designRandomised, controlled, single-blind trial.

settingAll 1833 community pharmacies in the Quebec province, Canada.

participants1814 pharmacies not opting out and with more than 5 dispensings of the target medications during the 6-month baseline were randomised by a 2×2 factorial design to feedback first for hypertension adherence (907 control, 907 intervention) followed by randomisation for asthma adherence (791 control, 807 intervention). 1422 of 1814 pharmacies had complete information available during the follow-up for hypertension intervention (706 intervention, 716 control), and 1301 of 1598 had the follow-up information for asthma (657 intervention, 644 control).

interventionUsing provincial billing data to measure performance, mailed comparative feedback reported the pharmacy-level percentage of dispensings to patients non-adherent to antihypertensive medications or overusing asthma rescue inhalers. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of hypertension/asthma services billed per pharmacy and percentage of dispensings to non-adherent patients over the 12 months post intervention.

resultsFeedback on the asthma measure led to increased provision of asthma services (control 0.2, intervention 0.4, RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.46). However, this did not translate into reductions in patients' overuse of rescue inhalers (control 45.5%, intervention 44.6%, RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.01). For non-adherence to antihypertensive medications, feedback resulted in no difference in either provision of hypertension services (control 0.7, intervention 0.8, RR 1.25, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.82) or antihypertensive treatment adherence (control 27.9%, intervention 28.0%, RR 1.0, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.00). Baseline performance did not influence results, and there was no evidence of a cumulative effect with repeated feedback.

conclusionsComparative pharmacy performance feedback increased the provision of asthma pharmacists' services but did not improve the performance on medication-use measures. Billing data can be used to evaluate the impact of billable services rendered by pharmacists on the quality of patients' medication use.

Indexed as

Drug MonitoringFeedbackPharmacistsProfessional RoleQuality of Health CareAgedAged, 80 and overAntihypertensive AgentsAsthmaBronchodilator AgentsDrug PrescriptionsFemaleHumansHypertensionMaleMiddle AgedAntihypertensive AgentsBronchodilator Agents

Identifiers

PMID27207626
PMCPMC4885441
OpenAlexW2405668002

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.