ASTHMA PATIENTS who are formally monitored and advised by pharmacists on how to manage their condition have better control of their asthma, research published this morning has found.
Els Mehuys and his colleagues at Ghent University carried out a randomised controlled trial on 201 patients with asthma, who were attending community pharmacies in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium.
One half of patients received normal care from the pharmacists, while the other half received specific advice on improving inhaler technique and other preventative measures over a six-month period.
The Pharmci study (Pharmaceutical Care for Asthma Control Improvement) showed that a sub-group of patients with poor asthma control who received specific pharmacist advice were in greater control of their asthma at the end of the study.
And reliever inhaler use and the frequency of night-time wakenings was reduced in those who received specific advice from their pharmacist.
Welcoming the research, a spokeswoman for the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) said it planned a public awareness campaign next month, in conjunction with the Asthma Society of Ireland, to help people with asthma improve their level of asthma control.
"The campaign invites patients with asthma to speak to their local pharmacist to review how they are using their inhaler and managing their current treatment regime, to make sure they are getting the best possible relief of symptoms," she said.
The level of asthma control in the Belgian study was measured using the Asthma Control Test (ACT), an assessment tool developed by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. An ACT score between 20 and 25 means the patients' asthma is well controlled. However, when the ACT score is between 15 and 20, indicating partly controlled asthma, the pharmacist intervenes to improve the patient's inhaler technique and adherence to medication.
But if the ACT score is less than 15, then the pharmacist advises the patient to visit their general practitioner for a full medical evaluation.
The authors of the study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, say they devised the protocol to fit in with the 2006 guidelines of the Global Initiative for Asthma. These emphasise the clinical control of asthma rather than an assessment based on the severity of symptoms.
However, the intervention of pharmacists did not improve the person's knowledge of asthma. Quality of life scores did not change either.