Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31015870›Full record

ArticlePharmacy practice

Clinical pharmacist implementation of a medication assessment tool for long-term management of atrial fibrillation in older persons.

Marise Gauci, Francesca Wirth, Lilian M Azzopardi, Anthony Serracino-Inglott

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacy practice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 33% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Marise GauciDepartment of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta; & Senior Principal Pharmacist, Department of Pharmacy, Karin Grech Hospital, Pieta (Malta). marise.gauci@um.edu.mt.ORCID 0000-0001-5467-8632
Francesca WirthDepartment of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta. Msida (Malta). francesca.wirth@um.edu.mt.ORCID 0000-0002-3225-2363
Lilian M AzzopardiHead of the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta. Msida (Malta). lilian.m.azzopardi@um.edu.mt.ORCID 0000-0002-3811-0761
Anthony Serracino-InglottDepartment of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta. Msida (Malta). anthony.serracino-inglott@um.edu.mt.ORCID 0000-0003-1196-0376
University of Malta · MTAmerican Pharmacists Association · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOptimisation of drug therapy is important in the older population and may be facilitated by medication assessment tools (MATs).

objectiveThe purpose of the study was to evaluate whether appropriateness of drug therapy and clinical pharmacist intervention documentation improved following implementation of a previously developed MAT for the long-term management of atrial fibrillation (MAT-AF).

methodsAdherence to MAT-AF review criteria and clinical pharmacist intervention documentation was assessed by the researcher pre-MAT implementation in 150 patients aged ≥60 years admitted to a rehabilitation hospital with a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. MAT-AF was introduced as a clinical tool in the hospital for identification of pharmaceutical care issues in atrial fibrillation patients. Adherence to MAT-AF and pharmacist intervention documentation were assessed by the researcher post-MAT implementation for a further 150 patients with the same inclusion criteria. Logistic regression analysis and measurement of odds ratio was used to identify differences in adherence to MAT-AF pre- and post-MAT implementation. The differences between two population proportions z-test was used to compare pharmacist intervention documentation pre- and post-MAT implementation.

resultsAdherence to MAT-AF criteria increased from 70.9% pre-implementation to 89.6% post-implementation. MAT-AF implementation resulted in a significant improvement in prescription of anticoagulant therapy (OR 4.07, p<0.001) and monitoring of laboratory parameters for digoxin (OR 10.40, p<0.001). Clinical pharmacist intervention documentation improved significantly post-implementation of MAT-AF (z-score 20.249, p<0.001).

conclusionsImplementation of MAT-AF within an interdisciplinary health care team significantly improved the appropriateness of drug therapy and pharmacist intervention documentation in older patients with atrial fibrillation.

Indexed as

AgedAtrial FibrillationClinical AuditDisease ManagementDrug Utilization ReviewInappropriate PrescribingMaltaMedication Therapy ManagementPharmaceutical ServicesPharmacists

Identifiers

PMID31015870
PMCPMC6463411
OpenAlexW2921727056

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.