Role of nephrology pharmacists in the management of anemia in outpatient dialysis units: A Canadian model

How can pharmacists contribute to anaemia management? A review of literature and exploratory study on pharmacists' role in anaemia

“…The majority of short-listed articles were from the United States (n:5), 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 followed by two articles from Japan, 33 , 34 and the rest from Canada, 35 France, 36 Iraq, 37 Jordan, 38 Malaysia, 39 Nepal, 40 Peru, 41 Tanzania, 42 and Thailand. 43 The most common designs (n:6) used in the articles identified, were retrospective studies involving reviewing medication charts to evaluate the impact of pharmacists' roles in anaemia management.…”

“…43 The most common designs (n:6) used in the articles identified, were retrospective studies involving reviewing medication charts to evaluate the impact of pharmacists' roles in anaemia management. 28 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35 Three included studies that utilised randomised controlled trials to investigate the effect of pharmacists' interventions in anaemia management associated with chronic kidney disease, 37 among continuous ambulatory peritoneal disease patients, 39 and in iron deficiency anaemia. 38 Two articles utilised before-after design, one of the articles evaluating the impact of pharmacists after providing an educational training programme for patients, 36 and the other article was a pre-post evaluation of training implementation to support pharmacists in providing point-of-care testing, including anaemia.…”

“…The demographics of the patient population explored in the included articles were pre-dialysis patients, 30 patients with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, 39 outpatient haemodialysis patients, 28 , 33 , 34 , 37 patients with chemotherapy-induced anaemia who received erythropoietin-stimulating agents, 29 , 31 pregnant women, 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 and patients with suspected iron deficiency anaemia. 38 The most common anaemias investigated in the included articles were renal anaemia (n:8), 28 , 30 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 39 followed by pregnancy-related anaemia (n:4), 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 iron deficiency anaemia (n:4), 32 , 38 , 41 , 43 and chemotherapy-induced anaemia (n:2). 29 , 31 Three studies described pharmacy-led anaemia clinics in renal anaemia management.…”

“…The topics of included articles were varied. Ten included articles described the positive impact of having pharmacists in anaemia management, 29 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 43 in which four of them investigated the impact of implementing pharmaceutical care education programmes in the community setting, 43 in a hospital, 39 and in the haemodialysis settings. 34 , 37 Eight articles investigated pharmacists' roles in the therapy management of anaemia in chronic kidney disease patients and how the involvement of pharmacists can bring potential clinical 28 , 33 , 36 , 37 , 39 and economic 29 , 31 , 42 benefits.…”

“…The included articles describe pharmacists' roles in three broad settings: in the primary care setting, such as in a community pharmacy, 40 , 41 , 42 in cancer or anaemia clinics, 29 , 30 , 31 , 36 and in hospital or outpatient clinics in the hospital. 28 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 43 There were some distinct roles in a particular setting and in a particular type of anaemia described in the included articles. Fig.…”