Insight into improving antidepressant adherence and symptoms by pharmacist intervention: A review

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of antidepressant medication adherence-improving intervention by a pharmacist and its impact on clinical symptoms of depression among outdoor depressive patients. Methods: Various databases such as PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were used sources for the literature published during the last 20 years. Pharmacist intervention studies involving adult depressed patients (≥ 17 years old) and treated with antidepressants were included. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: These studies depicted various levels of interventions in which pharmacist counseled and educated the patients to support medication adherence. In only one of the studies, pharmacist intervention exercised significant effect on the depression features of patients. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the implication of antidepressant medication adherenceimproving intervention by pharmacist leads to the improved adherence of adult depressive patients to antidepressants. However, pharmacist intervention did not show any significant influence on depression symptomology, necessitating further studies on the topic.