ACTRN12617000665336.
| Methods | RCT |
| Participants |
Inclusion criteria: (1) attend medical follow‐up in Specialized Out‐Patient Clinic (SOPC) of the Department of Medicine, (2) are 65 years or older, (3) have hyperpolypharmacy (defined as 10 or more regular drugs, and (4) agree to provide oral informed consent Exclusion criteria: (1) patients who are cognitively impaired (defined as a clinical diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment and/or not communicable and do not have caregivers, (2) patients who had received pharmacist medication review within 6 months before randomisation |
| Interventions |
Intervention: patients receive a pharmacist medication chart review, which includes assessing the appropriateness of each of the regular medications based on laboratory findings, medication lists, consultation and discharge notes, procedures, and test results. Face‐to‐face interview (lasts around 30 to 45 minutes) will then be conducted with patients on the day before SOPC follow‐up. Clinical pharmacists will assess drug use history, identify drug‐related problems, and provide drug therapy interventions through written pharmacist note to physicians during SOPC follow‐up, based on the medication chart review and the above pharmaceutical assessments. Immediately after SOPC follow‐up, clinical pharmacist will provide education (which lasts about 15 minutes) on drug‐related problem identified before the visit, reinforce physician’s instruction, and encourage drug compliance using written patient educational leaflets. Phone follow‐up will be conducted 1 month after the pharmacist intervention Control: usual care at SOPC |
| Outcomes | Medication adherence measured by Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS‐4), change in number of drug‐related problems, 30‐day unplanned hospital admission, patient satisfaction |
| Notes | ACTRN12617000665336 Start date: 7 March 2017. Anticipated last data collection: 30 September 2017 Project proposal published on trial registry website. No published results; unsure if study ever completed Investigator Miss Heidi Chan (email: cyh123@ha.org.hk) contacted for further information – no response |