A pre-post study of pharmacist-led medication reviews within a hospital-based residential aged care support service

Abstract

Background: Hospital-based residential aged-care support service teams typically consist of doctors and nurses who provide hospital substitutive care to aged-care residents. There is limited literature evaluating the pharmacist's role in such aged-care support teams. Objective: To analyse the effect of residential aged-care support service pharmacist-led medication reviews on polypharmacy, drug burden index, potentially inappropriate medications, and potential prescribing omissions for aged-care residents. Methods: Residents referred to a residential aged-care support service pharmacist for medication review over a 12-month period were included. The pharmacist communicated medication-related problems and recommendations to the resident's general practitioner and residential aged-care support service medical practitioner. Residents' medication histories were obtained at baseline and one-month postintervention. The number of medications and their associated drug burden indices were compared using paired t-tests; potentially inappropriate medications and potential prescribing omissions were compared using Wilcoxon's signed rank test. Key findings: Of 175 residents (mean age 84 years) referred for pharmacist-led medication review, 146 had postintervention evaluation after one-month (median 29 days). Mean number of medications reduced from 12.47 at baseline to 11.84 postintervention (mean difference (95% CI): 0.63(0.33-0.93), P