Impact of a specialist clinical cancer pharmacist at a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic

Abstract

Adding a specialist cancer pharmacist to the outpatient lung cancer team led to significant improvements in patient medication adherence. Both patients and GPs were highly satisfied with the service. Medication misadventure and clinic attendances were reduced.

The effects of pharmacist interventions on adult outpatients with cancer: A systematic review

“…Pharmacist interventions significantly decreased adverse events and symptoms related to cancer (eg, nausea, vomiting or pain), as reported in all studies evaluating this outcome . All studies reported a significant improvement in satisfaction with pharmacist interventions, patients’ quality of life and anti‐emesis drug costs . Moreover, two studies reported a significant increase in medication adherence.…”

“…After reviewing the titles and abstracts, 617 records were excluded because they did not include a study of pharmacist interventions in adult patients with cancer; did not assess the impact of interventions; or included non‐ambulatory patients. The remaining 40 records were selected for full‐text examination, of which 11 met all the eligibility criteria and were included in this systematic review . The excluded studies and the reasons for their exclusion are detailed in Appendix 2.…”

“…All studies were published in English and reported between 2012 and 2016. Sample size ranged from 12 to 249 individuals, with most studies including sample sizes smaller than 100 individuals (n=7) . In most studies (n=10), the mean age of patients was >50 years, and an equal proportion of men and women was recruited.…”

“…Sample size ranged from 12 to 249 individuals, with most studies including sample sizes smaller than 100 individuals (n=7) . In most studies (n=10), the mean age of patients was >50 years, and an equal proportion of men and women was recruited. Genitourinary cancer (n=9) was the most evaluated cancer type in this review, followed by gastrointestinal (n=5), breast (n=5), lung (n=5) and haematological cancer (n=3) .…”

“…Only six studies included a control group that received usual care (eg, prescription analysis or supply of medicines). The most commonly measured outcomes were rates of nausea and vomiting control (n=4) and patient satisfaction (n=3), followed by quality of life (n=2), adverse drug reaction or adverse event frequency (n=2), drug‐related problem frequency (n=1) and anti‐emesis drug costs (n=1) . Medication adherence (n=3), knowledge‐attitude‐practice for chemotherapy (n=1), awareness and knowledge regarding blood pressure management (n=1) and adherence to laboratory parameter monitoring (n=1) were measured as process indicators.…”