Pharmacy program improves asthma care

NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) Some advice and help from a pharmacist may help asthma sufferers get their condition under better control, according to an Australian study.

Researchers found that a pharmacy-based asthma care program helped patients adhere to their medication regimen and prevent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing. Among 191 patients who had a couple meetings with their pharmacist over 6 months, the percentage with severe asthma -- more than one attack per week -- fell from 87.9 per cent to 52.7 per cent, a statistically significant difference.

That compared with virtually no change among patients at pharmacies that did not institute the program.

The findings, reported in the journal Thorax, add to evidence that education and advice from a pharmacist can help people who take medication for chronic illnesses.

Many people, in fact, visit their pharmacy far more often than their doctor's office, yet pharmacists remain ''underused'' when it comes to interaction with patients, according to the study authors.

Their findings suggest that similar pharmacy programs for asthma management should be developed and tested, lead author Dr Carol Armour told Reuters Health.

''By spending structured and targeted time in the pharmacy, the health and well-being of people with asthma is significantly improved,'' said Armour, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Sydney.

The program used in the study - called the Pharmacy Asthma Care Program, or PACP - was developed in accordance with national guidelines on managing the disease. Fifty Australian pharmacies were randomly assigned to either implement the program or maintain their usual interactions with patients.

Armour's team followed 191 asthma patients at the PACP pharmacies and 205 at the comparison pharmacies. At the start of the study and one month later, PACP patients talked with their pharmacists about asthma management - such as avoiding asthma triggers, like cigarette smoke - as well as any medication problems they were having.

If necessary, they paid their pharmacist another visit three months into the study.

After 6 months, Armour's team found, the PACP patients were more likely to be using preventive medication and needed their inhalers less often. They were also more knowledgeable about asthma in general, and felt that their quality of life had improved.

The program worked, according to Armour, because of the time patients spent one-on-one with their pharmacists, setting goals for improving their asthma management.

''This is the kind of help that patients typically don't get from many healthcare practitioners, and they certainly appreciated it,'' she said. ''Plus, it got their asthma under control.'' Reuters JK DB1858