Assessment of Pharmacist's Role in Counselling and Educating Diabetic Patients About Insulin Therapy

Abstract

Background: Insulin therapy is the cornerstone treatment for diabetic patients. Insulin administration errors are common and may pose a significant risk to the life of the patient. Pharmacists can play an important role in educating and counseling diabetic patients about the proper use of insulin to prevent such errors. Objective: to evaluate the role of community pharmacists in educating diabetic patients about the proper use of insulin. Setting: This study was conducted on a convenient sample of 54 pharmacies in Baghdad, Iraq during December 2017. Methods: This study was a cross sectional conducted based on simulated patient method. A scenario including a prescription for lente and regular insulin was used in assessment pharmacist counseling role. Main outcome measure: assessment of pharmacists' counseling and educating role about insulin therapy by comparing the given information to simulated patient with standard information based on the expert recommendations for best practice in insulin injection technique. Results: This study showed that 16.7% of the community pharmacists just dispense insulin and refer the patient to the physician for counseling and education. All pharmacists who counsel and educate the simulated patient about insulin failed to do so properly. The pharmacists who educate the simulated patient about insulin usually focus on the time of and site of injecting insulin. Conclusion: Community pharmacists lack the adequate knowledge to educate and counsel diabetic patients about their insulin therapy.

Critical appraisal of simulated patient methodology to assess the practice of community pharmacist in the Middle East and North Africa region: A systematic review

“…The target populations in all the studies were CP 28 (62.2%), 19-Boura F, Al-Tabakha M, Hassan N, Darwich M. Critical appraisal of simulated patient methodology to assess the practice of community pharmacist in the Middle East and North Africa region: A systematic review. Pharmacy Practice 2022 Jul-Sep;20(3):2701. https://doi.org/10.18549/PharmPract.2022.3.2701 3 22,24,26,29,30,[32][33][34][35]38,39,41,42,46,47,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][58][59][60] pharmacy staff (pharmacists and non-pharmacists) 10 (22.2%), 18,23,31,36,37,43,44,48,57,60 and CP and GP 1 (2.2%). 27 Table 1 provides a summary of the descriptive characteristics of the included studies in the review.…”

“…22,30,35,46 In addition, some studies reported the counseling/dispensing duration 14 (31.1%), 26,28,31,35,36,[41][42][43]45,48,50,52,56,58 visit duration 7 (15.6%), 19,29,42,52,[60][61][62] and/or waiting duration 3 (6.7%). 22,36,52 The most outcome measured in the included studies was the adequacy of skill (pre-dispensing and/or post-dispensing) 38 (84.4%), 19,21,22,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]38,[40][41][42][43][44]…”

“…22,36,52 The most outcome measured in the included studies was the adequacy of skill (pre-dispensing and/or post-dispensing) 38 (84.4%), 19,21,22,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]38,[40][41][42][43][44][45][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][58][59][60][61][62] the the drug use pattern 19 (42.2%). 18,24,26,27,29,[31][32][33]36,[41]…”

“…A broad variety of terms were used in the studies to the individuals used to perform the simulated visits. The individuals were described as SP 37 (82.2%), 19,20,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]38,[41][42][43][44][45][47][48][49][50][51][52][54][55][56][58][59][60][61][62][63] simulated client 10 (22.2%), 18,21,24,27,29,35,39,40,47,5 7 and mystery shopper 10 (22.2%), 23,26,29,32,[40][41][42]54,55,59 mystery patient 3 (6.7%), 21,26,…”

“…21 In addition, many articles provided brief background or defined what was meant by SP or the equivalent term 17 (37.8%). 19,[21][22][23][24][25][26][28][29][30][32][33][34][35][36]38,41,42,45,46,50,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]62 The SP were recruited from a different range of backgrounds, including students 25 (55.6%), 18,20,22,24,[26][27][28][29]33,34,36,39,41,42,46,48,49,[52][53]…”