AUTHOR=Bukhsh Allah , Khan Tahir Mehmood , Phisalprapa Pochamana , Duangjai Acharaporn , Saokaew Surasak , Nawaz Muhammad Sarfraz , Ahmed Hafiz Sajjad , Goh Bey-Hing 

TITLE=Impact of Pharmacist-Led Diabetes Self-Care Education on Patients With Type 2 Diabetes in Pakistan: A Randomized Controlled Trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.754999

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2022.754999

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> There is a little evidence on efficacy of pharmacy-based interventions on clinical outcomes of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Pakistan.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> To appraise the impact of pharmacist-led self-care education on glycemic control, self-care practices and disease knowledge of T2DM patients with poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥ 7%).</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> In this 6-months, randomized controlled trial (RCT), <italic>n</italic> = 75, T2DM patients seeking care at a diabetes clinic were randomized in to two groups. Intervention group (<italic>n</italic> = 38) received two face-to-face educational sessions (at enrollment and on week 12), whereas control group (<italic>n</italic> = 37) received usual care. Outcome measures such as glycemic control, self-care practices and disease knowledge were assessed at the time of enrollment and after 6-months in both groups.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Thirty-three intervention and thirty-three participants from the control group completed the study. Mean glycated hemoglobin (% HbA1c) significantly reduced in the intervention group from 9.00 ± 1.43 to 8.09 ± 1.16 (<italic>p</italic> &lt; .01). However, no significant change was observed in the control group (9.20 ± 1.24 to 8.93 ± .97; <italic>p</italic> = .06). Cohen’s d effect size of the intervention on HbA1c was .78. Percentage of participants achieving glycemic control (HbA1c &lt; 7%) were significantly higher (<italic>p</italic> &lt; .05) in the intervention group as compared to the control group (twenty-four vs. six), after 6 months of the trial. A significant (<italic>p</italic> &lt; .01) improvement in mean scores for disease knowledge and self-care activities was also observed in the intervention group participants, whereas no significant improvements (<italic>p</italic> &gt; .05) were observed in the control group.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The study demonstrated an improvement in glycemic control, disease knowledge and self-care activities of T2DM patients who received pharmacist-led educational intervention. The study findings support clinical significance of integrating pharmacy-based interventions in diabetes management.</p>