Pharmacist intervention reduces gastropathy risk in patients using NSAIDs

Abstract

Our strategy allowed us to identify a large number of patients who asked for NSAIDs in Community Pharmacies and who were at risk of NSAID gastropathy, as they received either inadequate gastroprotection or no gastroprotection whatsoever. Moreover, the pharmacist intervention carried out has reduced the number of these risk situations.

The outpatient utilization of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in South Bačka District, Serbia

“…Most NSAIDs are prescribed by GPs and NSAIDs can also be purchased without prescription in private pharmacies, including those NSAIDs which could cause severe side-effects. Pharmacists have an important role in advising patients regarding the shortcomings of their drug use to improve clinical, humanistic and economic outcomes [28].…”

Evaluation of community pharmacists’ roles in screening and communication of risks about non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in Thailand

“…Community pharmacies are an important source of NSAID supply, so pharmacists should screen potential purchasers and those presenting prescriptions (Mangum et al ., 2003) for risk factors and provide safety information about these products. Community pharmacy-based interventions in relation to NSAIDs can prevent serious long-term problems, including acute kidney injury (Pai, 2015) and GI complications (Ibañez-Cuevas et al ., 2008; Teichert et al ., 2014), as well as impacting positively on patient knowledge (Jang et al ., 2014).…”

Effectiveness of interventions by community pharmacists to reduce risk of gastrointestinal side effects in nonselective nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug users

“…A pharmacist‐led intervention study in the UK showed a lower risk reduction of 1% in NSAID users with a history of peptic ulcer and lacking gastroprotection in the intervention group compared with a reference group . A Spanish study also showed additional prescribing of gastroprotection in NSAID users due to pharmacists' intervention but lacked a comparison group . As in an earlier Dutch study, for IG patients, PPIs were the most commonly prescribed GPA .…”

“…A range of studies has shown that interventions by pharmacists can effectively improve medication safety . Most studies on medication safety have been performed under controlled study conditions or in hospital or nursing home settings, so consequently insights on the impact of pharmacist interventions in the more realistic circumstances of daily ambulatory practice are scarce.…”