Although pharmacists explain the use of inhalation therapy to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), few reports have examined the effectiveness of treatment and adherence levels. The present study investigated the impact of confirmed inhalant use, and explanation of medication use by the pharmacist, on the effectiveness of drugs and the level of understanding of drug usage in patients with COPD. For the five patients included, pre-intervention was defined as the time of signing the informed consent form, and post-intervention was defined as the time of the next consultation at approximately 35 days. The following items were compared pre-and post-intervention: lung function and symptomatic evaluation, and a questionnaire to determine the patient's level of understanding of the disease and medication. Furthermore, each patient demonstrated use of the inhalant to confirm that drugs were administered correctly. Because COPD is an inflammatory disorder, which is characterized by high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), the effect of inhalation therapy on blood levels of highsensitivity CRP (hsCRP) and the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured. After pharmacist intervention, use of COPD therapy was enhanced, and patients had a better understanding of drug usage. Vital capacity and forced vital capacity were significantly increased, while HsCRP and IL-6 levels were significantly decreased. Pharmacist intervention to optimize drug usage was associated with better lung function in patients with COPD. The involvement of the pharmacist/pharmacist intervention is considered to be highly important for optimal treatment use, and, consequently, the quality of life of patients.
provides students with on-site learning of pharmacist services (OSL, hereafter) in which they learn about the roles of local medical institutions, and collaboration between such institutions and pharmacists. Our aim is to train students to become highly qualified pharmacists as desired by the community. We provided our 3 rd-year students with OSL at seven local medical institutions in Yubari City. A collaboration agreement was established between Yubari Medical Center, one of the institutions, and our College. The aims of the OSL were to teach students about the roles of pharmacists in the community and to give them a better understanding of the different types of pharmacist jobs. The students were surveyed by questionnaire before and after the OSL to examine changes in their understanding as well as the extent of their knowledge. Almost all degrees of their understanding as well as recognition of the necessity for the content of the OSL were significantly improved after OSL as compared to before OSL. Although they had already understood the tasks of physicians, nurses and pharmacists very well, the OSL seems to have raised their awareness of pharmacists' services as a whole in the local community especially by offering OSL in local medical institutions, nursing homes for the elderly and welfare facilities. We think that educating pharmacy students about community-based team medical care can be helpful for training them to become pharmacists who are capable of providing appropriate services in collaboration with society.
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