68 % of the outcomes reported showed that clinical pharmacy services were associated with better improvement in patients ' outcomes compared with the control group .
The involvement of a pharmacist demonstrated an ability to improve CVD outcomes through providing educational intervention , medicine management intervention , or a combination of both .
These interventions result ed in improved CVD risk factors , improved patient outcomes , and reduced number of drug-related problems with a direct effect on CVD control .
These improvements may lead to an improvement in patient quality of life , better use of health care re sources , and a reduced rate of mortality
BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) is considered to be the main cause of death and one of the most common diseases affecting health care systems worldwide .
Many methods have been used to improve CVD outcomes , one of which is to involve clinical pharmacists in the direct care of patients with CVD .
OBJECTIVE To perform a systematic review assessing the effectiveness of clinical pharmacist interventions within a multidisciplinary team in the secondary prevention of CVD , using studies conducted on patients with heart failure , coronary heart disease , or those with CVD risk factors .
Pharmaceutical care of patients with heart failure.
AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care programme , involving optimization of drug treatment and intensive education and self-monitoring of patients with heart failure ( HF ) within the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) , on a range of clinical and humanistic outcome measures . METHODS The study was a r and omized , controlled , longitudinal , prospect i ve clinical trial at Al-Ain Hospital , Al-Ain , UAE . Patients were recruited from the general medical wards and from cardiology and medical outpatient clinics . HF patients who fulfilled the entrance criteria , and had no exclusion criteria present , were identified for inclusion in the study . After recruitment , patients were r and omly assigned to one of two groups : intervention group or control group . Intervention patients received a structured pharmaceutical care service while control patients received traditional services . Patient follow-up took place when patients attended scheduled outpatient clinics ( every 3 months ) . A total of 104 patients in each group completed the trial ( 12 months ) . The patients were generally suffering from mild to moderate HF ( NYHA Class 1 , 29.5 % ; Class 2 , 50.5 % ; Class 3 , 16 % ; and Class 4 , 4 % ) . RESULTS Over the study period , intervention patients showed significant ( P < 0.05 ) improvements in a range of summary outcome measures [ AUC ( 95 % confidence limits ) ] including exercise tolerance [ 2-min walk test : 1607.2 ( 1474.9 , 1739.5 ) m.month in intervention patients vs. 1403.3 ( 1256.5 , 1549.8 ) in control patients ] , forced vital capacity [ 31.6 ( 30.8 , 32.4 ) l.month in the intervention patients vs. 27.8 ( 26.8 , 28.9 ) in control patients ] , health-related quality of life , as measured by the Minnesota living with heart failure question naire [ 463.5 ( 433.2 , 493.9 ) unit.month in intervention patients vs. 637.5 ( 597.2 , 677.7 ) in control patients ; a lower score in this measure indicates better health-related quality of life ] . The number of individual patients who reported adherence to prescribed medications was higher ( P < 0.05 ) in the intervention group ( 85 vs. 35 ) , as was adherence to lifestyle advice ( 75 vs. 29 ) at the final assessment ( 12 months ) . There was a tendency to have a higher incidence of casualty department visits by intervention patients , but a lower rate of hospitalization . CONCLUSIONS The research provides clear evidence that the delivery of pharmaceutical care to patients with HF can lead to significant clinical and humanistic benefits
68 % of the outcomes reported showed that clinical pharmacy services were associated with better improvement in patients ' outcomes compared with the control group .
The involvement of a pharmacist demonstrated an ability to improve CVD outcomes through providing educational intervention , medicine management intervention , or a combination of both .
These interventions result ed in improved CVD risk factors , improved patient outcomes , and reduced number of drug-related problems with a direct effect on CVD control .
These improvements may lead to an improvement in patient quality of life , better use of health care re sources , and a reduced rate of mortality
BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) is considered to be the main cause of death and one of the most common diseases affecting health care systems worldwide .
Many methods have been used to improve CVD outcomes , one of which is to involve clinical pharmacists in the direct care of patients with CVD .
OBJECTIVE To perform a systematic review assessing the effectiveness of clinical pharmacist interventions within a multidisciplinary team in the secondary prevention of CVD , using studies conducted on patients with heart failure , coronary heart disease , or those with CVD risk factors .