A research article was published in the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacythis week on the development of pharmacist interventions in the management of Parkinson’s disease.

The article examines the compliance outcomes from a study of 35 patients recruited from the Movement Disorders Outpatient Clinic at Zammit Clapp Hospital in Malta. All participants were Maltese with a mean age of 74 years.

Pharmacist intervention tools included a treatment medication chart, two patient leaflets and a pharmacist-run discussion with patients and their caregivers.Outcomes were measured using a Compliance Questionnaire, the PDQ-39 Quality of Life Questionnaire and an Intervention Evaluation Sheet.

The results of the study found a statistically significant improvement in patients' compliance with treatment on the second pharmacist visit compared to the first visit. The average domain dimension scores of the PDQ-39 questionnaire showed an overall improvement in the patients' quality of life with Mobility (p=0.038), Activities of Daily Living (p=0.006) and Social Support (p=0.01) showing a statistically significant improvement following the pharmacist's intervention. Fifteen patients were in favour of always having a pharmacist intervening.

The study concluded the inclusion of the hospital pharmacist in the multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals significantly improves patient and caregiver well-being through better medication compliance and improved health status.

The full text of the research article is available of the EJHP website here.