Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite national disease management plans, optimal asthma management remains a challenge in Australia. Community pharmacists are ideally placed to implement new strategies that aim to ensure asthma care meets current standards of best practice. The impact of the Pharmacy Asthma Care Program (PACP) on asthma control was assessed using a multi-site randomised intervention versus control repeated measures study design. METHODS: Fifty Australian pharmacies were randomised into two groups: intervention pharmacies implemented the PACP (an ongoing cycle of assessment, goal setting, monitoring and review) to 191 patients over 6 months, while control pharmacies gave their usual care to 205 control patients. Both groups administered questionnaires and conducted spirometric testing at baseline and 6 months later. The main outcome measure was asthma severity/control status. RESULTS: 186 of 205 control patients (91 ) and 165 of 191 intervention patients (86 ) completed the study. The intervention resulted in improved asthma control: patients receiving the intervention were 2.7 times more likely to improve from severe to not severe than control patients (OR 2.68, 95 CI 1.64 to 4.37; p
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 496 - 502 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Thorax |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 6 |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |