Abstract
Objective: Assessment of a pharmacist-run anaemia educational programme for patients with chr-onic renal insufficiency. Setting: Nephrology Department, Grenoble Hospital, France Method: A 12-week prospective study, using a before–after intervention design. Included in the study were predialysis outpatients with a haemoglobin level < 10 g/dl, de novo EPO prescription; judged qualified by the nephrologist for self-injections; accepting self-injections. The intervention was a single one-hour individual session between the pharmacist and the patient to target (1) medical and therapeutic information; (2) information on the device, a pen used with a cartridge of beta epoietin; (3) training with the pen; and (4) self-injection of the first dose by the patient, in front of the pharmacist. Main outcome measures were knowledge (7-item questionnaire); handling skills (observation) and Quality of Life (1 Likert scale on apprehension towards self-injections and 3 Linear Analog Scales on energy, daily activities, and general well-being); compliance (self-report on self-administered injections) and haemoglobin level. Results: Ten patients were followed for 3 months after intervention. The evolution of the knowledge was positive but not statistically significant after the programme (80% of good answers before; 93% 3 months later). Concerning the patients’ skills, difficulties with the pen were important at inclusion, (1) to reset the pen into zero position (2.8 tries/patient ±1.8); (2) to insert a new cartridge (1.9 ± 1.1); and (3) to take air out of the cartridge (2.3 ± 1.2). After the session, results were satisfactory, since 3 months later, all patients were still on self-injections. QoL improved significantly over the study period respectively on energy, daily activities, and general well-being. The mean level of compliance remained above 90% at 3 months for 8 out of 10 patients. Patients reached the haemoglobin target value of 11 g/dl during the second month of treatment. Conclusion: A tailored educational programme conducted by a pharmacist is beneficial for anaemia patients with chronic renal insufficiency. The programme seems to result in a high level of compliance, leading to an optimal haemoglobin level within two months.
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Presented at the 4th European Society of Clinical Pharmacy Spring Conference, Lisboa, 14–17 May 2003.
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Allenet, B., Chen, C., Romanet, T. et al. Assessing a pharmacist-run anaemia educational programme for patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Pharm World Sci 29, 7–11 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-005-4800-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-005-4800-4