Impact of clinical pharmacist’s interventions on pharmacotherapy management in elderly patients on polypharmacy with mental health problems including quality of life: A prospective non-randomized study

Abstract

Mental health problems (MHPs) are very common in the elderly and can have an important influence on their quality of life (QoL). There is almost no data on the impact of clinical pharmacists’ (CPs) interventions on the QoL including elderly patients and MHPs. The main aim of this study was to determinate the impact of (CP’s) interventions on the QoL and quality of pharmacotherapy. A prospective non-randomized pre-post study was designed which included residents of a nursing home aged 65 age or more with at least one MHP. Each patient also filled out the EQ-5D questionnaire. The medical review MR included drug-related problems (DRPs) and potentially drug-drug interactions (pDDIs), as well as potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). After 2 months, the participants were interviewed again. The mean number of medications before the intervention was 12,2 ± 3,1 per patient and decreased to 10,3 ± 3,0 medications per patient (p < 0,05) (n = 24). The total number of PIMs and pDDIs was also reduced and QoL was also significantly higher (p < 0,05). A collaborative care approach with a CP led to a decrease of DRPs, pDDIs, PIMs, the total number of medications and to an improvement in the patients’ QoL.