Community pharmacist home visit-based intervention improved diabetes patients' outcomes: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Abundances of studies showed the positive impact of pharmacist intervention in managing diabetes patients. However, in Indonesia context, robust evidence of whether pharmacist could improve patients outcomes in diabetes management was lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of community pharmacist in the form of home visit in managing diabetes patients. A randomized controlled parallel-group trial was conducted in Banyumas district, Central Java province, Indonesia over 24-week period. Patients in the intervention group received home visit services by participant pharmacists, while the control group only received usual care. The outcomes measured were HbA1c levels and quality of life [using Diabetes Quality of Life Clinical Trial Questionnaire (DQLCTQ)]. The data were tested for normality before other statistical tests were taken, and parametric or nonparametric tests were carried out accordingly. Forty-one patients in the control group and 47 patients in the intervention group were included in the final analysis. This study showed a significant 0.90% mean change difference of HbA1c values between the study groups (95%CI: -1.50% to -0.20%; p = 0.04). Likewise, there was a significant increase in the mean change difference of DQLCTQ scores between the study groups (4.30%, 95%CI: 0.03%-8.57%; p = 0.04). Community pharmacist intervention in Indonesia improved the outcomes of patients with diabetes. The issues of effects sustainability and economic outcome of this service are remained unclear and need to be evaluated in future studies.