Value of the Clinical Pharmacist Interventions in the Application of the American College of Cardiology (ACC/AHA) 2018 Guideline for Cholesterol Management

Abstract

The study aims to examine the extent of implementing the ACC/AHA cholesterol guideline and its updates in practice as well as the role of clinical pharmacists in making such guidelines effective. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 272 adult patients who visited the hospital internal medicine clinic in the UAE and were candidates for statin therapy based on the 2018 ACC/AHA guidelines for cholesterol management. Clinical pharmacist interventions were determined. The chi-square test was used to compare compliance with the guidelines before and after clinical pharmacist interventions. Compliance with the recommendations for cholesterol management was significantly improved from 60.3% to 92.6% (X2=79.1, p=0.0001) after clinical pharmacist interventions. Among patients who were on statin therapy, the percentage of those who were on proper statin intensity increased significantly from 47.6% to 94.4% (X2=72.5, p=0.0001). The combination of statins with nonstatin therapies such as ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors increased from 8.5% to 30.6% (X2=95, p<0.0001) and from 0.0% to 1.6% (X2=6, p=0.014), respectively. The use of other lipid-lowering agents was diminished from 14.6% to 3.2% (X2=19.2, p<0.0001). Collaboration between physicians and clinical pharmacists is a crucial strategy to achieve better health outcomes among patients suffering from dyslipidemia.