ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to be a major global public health issue. COVID-19 is highly contagious, and numerous mitigation strategies have recently been implemented to prevent the spread of this disease. Pharmacists utilize telecommunication technology to provide patient care services, thus increasing patient access to pharmaceutical services. There was a scarcity of evidence regarding the impact of telepharmacy on patient outcomes during COVID-19. Therefore, the aim of this study was to summarize the available research evidence on the impact of telepharmacy on patient outcomes during COVID-19. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted between January 2020 to September 2022 in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, using appropriate terms on telepharmacy, COVID-19, and patient outcomes. Only studies that investigated the impact of telepharmacy on patient outcomes during COVID-19 were included. A systematic literature search was conducted between January 2020 to September 2022 in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, using appropriate terms on telepharmacy, COVID-19, and patient outcomes. Only studies that investigated the impact of telepharmacy on patient outcomes during COVID-19 were included. Results: A total of three studies were included in the review. The telepharmacy services were offered via virtual anticoagulation clinic, retail community telepharmacy through information technology tools, and RxLive® telepharmacy program. All studies included in the review demonstrated that the provision of telepharmacy services during COVID-19 had an overall positive impact on the patient outcomes such as a reduction in the rates of hospitalisation and medication-related problems and maintaining the international normalized ratio values within the therapeutic range (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , /epidemiology , Pharmaceutical Services , e-Commerce , /epidemiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pharmacotherapy in older adults is one of the most challenging aspects of patient care. Older people are prone to drug-related problems such as adverse effects, ineffectiveness, underdosage, overdosage, and drug interactions. Anticholinergic medications are associated with poor outcomes in older patients, and there is no specific intervention strategy for reducing drug burden from anticholinergic activity medications. Little is known about the effectiveness of current interventions that may likely improve the anticholinergic prescribing practice in older adults. AIMS: This review seeks to document all types of interventions aiming to reduce anticholinergic prescribing among older adults and assess the current evidence and quality of existing single and combined interventions. METHODS: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, and PsycINFO from January 1990 to August 2021. Only studies that examined the effect of interventions in older people focused on improving compliance with anticholinergic prescribing guidelines with quantifiable data were included. The primary outcome of interest was to find the effectiveness of interventions that enhance the anticholinergic prescribing practice in older adults. RESULTS: We screened 3168 records and ended up in 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria. We found only single-component interventions to reduce anticholinergic prescribing errors in older people. Pharmacists implemented interventions without collaboration in nearly half of the studies (n = 11). Medication review (43%) and education provision (26%) to healthcare practitioners were the most common interventions. Sixteen studies (70%) reported significant reductions in anticholinergic prescribing errors, whereas seven studies (30%) showed no significant effect. CONCLUSION: This systematic review suggests that healthcare practitioner-oriented interventions have the potential to reduce the occurrence of anticholinergic prescribing errors in older people. Interventions were primarily effective in reducing the burden of anticholinergic medications and assisting with deprescribing anticholinergic medications in older adults.
