Measurement of outcomes in adults receiving pharmaceutical care in a comprehensive asthma outpatient clinic

• Published in: Pharmacotherapy Vol. 18; no. 6; p. 1365
• Main Authors: Knoell, D L, Pierson, J F, Marsh, C B, Allen, J N, Pathak, D S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.1998
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Asthma - drug therapy; Asthma - economics; Asthma - prevention & control; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Health Care Costs - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Middle Aged; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Patient Education as Topic; Patient Satisfaction; Pharmacists; Quality of Life; Self Care
• ISSN: 0277-0008
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1875-9114.1998.tb03162.x

We hypothesized that a pharmacist-provided comprehensive education program in conjunction with care provided by a pulmonologist would lead to improved economic, clinical, and humanistic outcomes in adults with asthma, compared with similar patients receiving care from a pulmonologist alone. The experimental group reported receiving more information about asthma self-management (p=0.001), were more likely to monitor peak flow readings (p=0.004), and had increased satisfaction with care, and perceived higher quality of care. Both groups had less lost productivity, fewer emergency department visits, fewer hospitalizations, and fewer physician visits, as well as improvement in symptoms scores within 45 days. Both groups improved in all functional status domains except the mental component score of the SF-12. Our results show a positive impact on outcomes in adults with asthma who received pharmaceutical care.