Effectiveness of Interventions by Pharmacists in Ensuring Safety and Efficacy of Outpatient Chemotherapy Prescriptions

Makihara, Katsuya; Ohta, Miki; Ueno, Hiroki; Hama, Ichiro

doi:10.5649/jjphcs.36.880

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Given the development of novel anticancer drugs and the availability of supportive therapies, there has been a paradigm shift in cancer chemotherapy from hospitalized treatment to ambulatory care. 13) Consequently, the need for pharmaceutical management among outpatients during cancer chemotherapy has increased. Therefore, pharmaceutical consultation was established at Fujita Health University Hospital in Japan for outpatients who received anticancer drugs, such as epidermal growth factor receptor, tyrosine kinase, and immune checkpoint inhibitors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting the Comprehension of Outpatients Receiving Cancer Chemotherapy

Nishibe-Toyosato

Ando

Nakasuji

et al. 2023

Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Japan) provides support to patients undergoing anticancer drug treatment. This study aimed to explore factors that affect the comprehension of cancer chemotherapy among outpatients who received cancer treatment at our hospital. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and comprehension was scored on a scale of 1-5 (1, no comprehension; 5, full comprehension). When factors other than age and sex [the influence of which on comprehension has been reported in previous reports] were noted, differences in comprehension between the questionnaire items were comparatively analyzed according to the presence/absence of the relevant factors. Overall, 536 patients were included. Age (<70 years) and pharmacist interventions were identified as factors contributing to a comprehension score. The levels of comprehension regarding the name of the cancer chemotherapy, content/schedule of the treatment, purposes of the prescribed drugs, and objectives of blood tests were significantly higher in the group that received the pharmaceutical interventions; conversely, the level of comprehension for the self-management of adverse events was significantly lower in this group than in the group that did not receive any pharmaceutical interventions. Age and interventions by the pharmacist affected the comprehension of cancer chemotherapy by patients.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting the Comprehension of Outpatients Receiving Cancer Chemotherapy

Nishibe-Toyosato

Ando

Nakasuji

et al. 2023

Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Numerous pharmacist intervention assessments have been performed on outpatients regarding various diseases, including cancer chemotherapy studies involving pharmacists have investigated the proper use of oral anti-cancer agents [ 9 ], cost improvement through the proper use of antiemetic agents [ 10 , 11 ], cost avoidance through regimen reviews and patient counseling [ 12 ], pharmaceutical care as a means of reducing the psychological burden on patients [ 13 ], reductions in the occurrence of adverse events because of prescription proposals from pharmacists [ 14 ], and the key role of disease management and supportive-care management [ 15 ]. And numerous QOL assessments have been performed regarding breast cancer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of pharmacist counseling on reducing instances of adverse events that can affect the quality of life of chemotherapy outpatients with breast Cancer

Tanaka

Hori

Tachi

et al. 2018

J Pharm Health Care Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundIn recent years, cancer chemotherapy is being conducted at outpatient clinics, wherein pharmacists are involved with patient guidance and management of adverse events as experts in medication therapy. Therefore, we clarified the influence of interventions by pharmacists during counseling of patients with cancer on patients’ quality of life.MethodsTo determine this influence, we conducted a survey to assess the quality of life of 39 patients with breast cancer who underwent their initial course of outpatient cancer chemotherapy at Gifu Municipal Hospital. A quality of life survey was conducted before the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd courses of treatment and was based on a method obtained from a survey paper entitled, “Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs.”ResultsTwenty patients were assigned to the intervention group, which received pharmacist counseling, and nineteen patients were assigned to the non-intervention group, which received no pharmacist counseling. Both groups were compared immediately before the 1st course and 2nd course. Regarding the subscale of social relationships, a significant difference was observed for malaise (p = 0.043), with the non-intervention group experiencing them to a greater degree than the intervention group. Regarding the change between immediately before the 1st course and the 3rd course, a significant difference was observed in the subscale of social relationships for nausea (p = 0.017), with the non-intervention group experiencing it to a greater degree than the intervention group.ConclusionsThe results suggest that receiving pharmacists’ guidance on adverse events and individually adjusted prescriptions tailored to address the occurrence of adverse events improved the treatment environment and enhanced the quality of life in the intervention group. These findings are beneficial in maintaining patients’ quality of life during cancer treatment.Trial registrationNo. UMIN000027171, Registration date: Apr 27, 2017. Retrospectively registered.

show abstract

“…1,2) Several studies on the effectiveness of pharmacist's activities in the field of cancer chemotherapy have been reported in Japan. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] However, no study has yet addressed the effect of collaboration between oncology pharmacists and physicians on therapeutic outcomes and medical costs in Japan. 9) In this study, we compared patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer who were managed by physicians alone with those managed in collaboration with oncology pharmacists.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Retrospective Study of the Effects of Oncology Pharmacist Participation in Treatment on Therapeutic Outcomes and Medical Costs

Imamura

Ogawa

Takatori

et al. 2017

Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Specialist oncology pharmacists are being trained in Japan to assist cancer treatment teams. These specialized pharmacists address patients' physical and mental problems in pharmacist-managed cancer care clinics, actively participate in formulating treatment policies, and are beneficial in offering qualitative improvements to patient services and team medical care. However, the effect of outpatient treatment by oncology pharmacists on therapeutic outcomes and medical costs is still unknown. A retroactive comparative analysis of the treatment details and clinical course was conducted among three groups of patients: patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy managed by a gynecologic oncologist only (S arm), patients managed by a non-oncologist (general practice gynecologist) only (NS arm), and patients managed by both a nononcologist and a specialist oncology pharmacist (NS Ph arm). The medical cost per course was significantly lower for patients in the NS Ph arm than for those in the other two arms. Surprisingly, the outpatient treatment rate in the NS Ph arm was overwhelmingly high. The involvement of an oncology pharmacist did not make a significant difference in therapeutic outcomes such as recurrence rate and survival. The participation of oncology pharmacists in the management of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy enables safe outpatient treatment and also reduces medical costs.Key words oncology pharmacist; pharmacist-managed clinic; cancer chemotherapy; cost; outpatient treatment The development of drug therapies for cancer has resulted in improved therapeutic outcomes; these drugs play an important role in cancer treatment. However, unfortunately, cancer drugs always cause side effects, including hematological adverse events such as neutropenia and thrombocytopenia and non-hematological adverse events such as nausea, vomiting, and skin disorders. Such side effects not only diminish a patient's quality of life but may also make it difficult for the patient to continue treatment; dose adjustment, decisions on implementation, and supportive care all become important. In recent years, a policy designed to encourage outpatient treatment of cancer patients was introduced in Japan. However, satisfactory management of treatment in the outpatient setting, where there are few points of contact with patients, has been difficult, and structuring an efficient medical system is important. We established the collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM) care framework in 2008 as a method for managing joint care provided to cancer patients by physicians and specialist oncology pharmacists who address the physicians' requests. 1) In the CDTM workflow, specialist oncology pharmacists examine cancer patients at a pharmacist-managed cancer care clinic before they are seen by their attending physician, and offer proposals to the physician regarding chemotherapy management. Specialist oncology pharmacists play a major role in cancer drug therapy management, and a very high proportion of their proposals are ultimately ado...

show abstract

Effectiveness of Interventions by Pharmacists in Ensuring Safety and Efficacy of Outpatient Chemotherapy Prescriptions

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

Factors Affecting the Comprehension of Outpatients Receiving Cancer Chemotherapy

Factors Affecting the Comprehension of Outpatients Receiving Cancer Chemotherapy

Impact of pharmacist counseling on reducing instances of adverse events that can affect the quality of life of chemotherapy outpatients with breast Cancer

A Retrospective Study of the Effects of Oncology Pharmacist Participation in Treatment on Therapeutic Outcomes and Medical Costs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About