Pharmacists Intervention Reduced Drug-Related Problems in the Treatment of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) remains as a global public health problem, including Indonesia due to its continuous increasing prevalence.

Aim: To analyze the impact of pharmacist intervention on drug-related problems (DRPs) occurred in the management of patients with T2DM admitted to Tebing Tinggi Hospital (TTH), Indonesia, period March through August 2018.

Methods: This six-month retrospective prospective cohort study evaluated the impact of pharmacist intervention on the occurrence of DRPs in the management of patients with T2DM (n = 45) insured by Social Security Organizing Body in TTH, North Sumatera, Indonesia. The inclusion criteria were T2DM patients with age ≥ 18 years and under treatment of antidiabetic drugs. A questionnaire was used to assess the characteristics of the patients and antidiabetic drugs provided. The incidence of DRPs in groups with usual care for the previous three-month and with pharmacist interventions for the next three-month admissions were analyzed using Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) DRP classification system version 8.01 that consists of 3 primary domains for problems, 8 primary domains for causes, and 5 primary domains (PCNE, 2017) and trustable literatures. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t test in the program of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 19 (p < 0.05 was considered significant).

Results: Most (66.7%) of the patients were female. Their mean age was 61.96 ± 6.45 (years). The three most widely provided drugs were metformin, glimepirid, and gliclazide. Total incidence of DRPs in groups with: usual care, 128; intervention, 39. There was a significant difference between the incidence of DRPs in groups with usual care and intervention, p ≤ 0.001.

Conclusion: Pharmacist intervention reduced the incidence of DRPs in the management of T2DM patients.