SynthesisJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2021
Pharmacist-led interventions to improve medication adherence in older adults: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 6 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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Optimizing Statin Therapy in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Dosing, Titration, and Combination Strategies.GeroScience · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of pharmacist-led deprescribing interventions on medication related outcomes among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Medication experience of aged patients and their family caregivers during transitions of care: a qualitative meta-synthesis.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and community health workers on medication adherence: a systematic review.International journal for equity in health · 2025Pooled it
- Does drug dispensing influence patients' medication knowledge and medication adherence? A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Pharmacist interventions in Asian healthcare environments for older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis on hospitalization, mortality, and quality of life.BMC geriatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Understanding medication management in older adults: experiences of Turkish community pharmacists.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Role of pharmacists in HIV prophylaxis: a scoping review of pharmacists' services, interventions and outcomes.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2026Article
- Identifying and Resolving Drug-Related Problems in Geriatric Patients.Hospital pharmacy · 2026Review
- The role of pharmacists in geriatric care: current evidence and practice.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Review
- Pharmacist-led medication therapy management improving medication adherence in a patient with type 2 diabetes: case report.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Cost Analysis of Multidose Drug Dispensing (MDD) System Implementation in a Community Pharmacy in Portugal.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Role of Religiosity on Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Non-adherence to Antihypertensive Medications.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Review
- Community Health Empowerment Through Clinical Pharmacy: A Single-Arm, Post-Intervention-Only Pilot Implementation Evaluation.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Exploring the Perceptions of Undergraduate Pharmacy Students' Communication Skills to Facilitate Better Professional Decision-Making in the UK.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Challenges and Strategies in Medication Management for Patients With Multiple Comorbidities.Cureus · 2025Review
- Chronic Care in Primary Care: Exploring the Role and Impact of General Practice Pharmacists in Managing Long-Term Conditions in Northern Ireland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Enhancing Therapy Adherence: Impact on Clinical Outcomes, Healthcare Costs, and Patient Quality of Life.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Improving Medication Adherence in Heart Failure Through Pharmacist-Led Patient Education: Protocol for a Mechanism-Based Study of Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectiveAs pharmacists work to ensure reimbursement for chronic disease management services on the national level, evidence of their impact on important health metrics, such as medication adherence, is needed. However, summative evidence is lacking on the effectiveness of pharmacists to improve medication adherence in older adults. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions on medication adherence in older adults (65+ years). DESIGN/SETTING/
participantsUsing a systematic review and meta-analytic approach, a comprehensive search of publications in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar was conducted through April 2, 2020 for randomized clinical trials of pharmacist-led interventions to improve medication adherence in older adults. A standardized mean difference effect size (Cohen's d) was calculated for medication adherence in each study. Study effect sizes were pooled using a random-effects model, with effect sizes weighted by inverse of its total variance. MEASUREMENTS: Medication adherence using any method of measurement.
resultsAmong 40 unique randomized trials of pharmacist-led interventions with data from 8822 unique patients (mean age, range: 65-85 years), the mean effect size was 0.57 (k = 40; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.38-0.76). When two outlier studies were excluded from the analysis, the mean effect size reduced to 0.41 (k = 38; 95% CI: 0.27-0.54). A sensitivity analysis of medication adherence outcome by time point resulted in a mean effect size of 0.64 at 3 months (k = 12; 95% CI: 0.32-0.97), 0.30 at 6 months (k = 13; 95% CI: 0.11-0.48), 0.22 at 12 months (k = 12; 95% CI: 0.08-0.37), and 0.36 for outcome time points beyond 12 months (k = 5; 95% CI: 0.02-0.70).
conclusionThis meta-analysis found a significant improvement in medication adherence among older adults receiving pharmacist-led interventions. Implementation of pharmacist-led interventions supported by Medicare reimbursement could ensure older adults' access to effective medication adherence support.
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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.