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BackgroundAchievement and maintenance of a good asthma control is essential in chronic asthma patients. However, asthma control is suboptimal in many patients due to poor adherence and/or improper use of asthma medications.PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of pharmacist intervention in asthma control in adult patients.Material and methodsThis study included outpatients at a teaching hospital diagnosed with insufficiently controlled asthma and who were using at least one controller inhaler. Patients received pharmacist interventions for 3 months. The primary outcome was the level of asthma control, and the secondary outcomes were the correct percentage of inhaler-using skills, knowledge of asthma and asthma medicine, and medication adherence.ResultsA total of 24 patients completed the study. The mean Asthma Control Test (ACT®) score (p=0.0001), knowledge of asthma (p=0.0001), inhaler technique (p=0.034) and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) measurements (p<0.050) were significantly improved after the intervention. In addition, good adherent patients had larger ACT score increments as compared with poor adherent patients.ConclusionOur programme substantially improved inhalation technique, cognition of asthma control and medication adherence in the patients. The results suggest that the participation of pharmacists in the healthcare team has a positive effect on asthma control in adult asthma patients.References and/or AcknowledgementsAcknowledge all the pharmacists providing pharmaceutical intervention and education in the studyNo conflict of interest

BackgroundDischarge medication consultation is to provide a seamless pharmaceutical care to the patient discharged from the hospital to the community, to empower the patient with the correct drug use information which hopefully would reduce or even eliminate the occurrences of re-hospitalisation or emergency visits caused by incorrect drug uses.PurposeThe present study was to reveal the pharmaceutical intervention and education for the discharge of inpatients.Material and methodsThe study was conducted from July 2015 to November 2016 and included patients who were offered medication consultation from the pharmacist upon hospital discharge in a teaching hospital in Taiwan. A pharmacist visit recording sheet was used to record all the relevant patient demographic information and intervention provided for further analysis.ResultsA total of 748 patients were included: 447 were males (59.8%) and 301 were females (40.2%). Ninety per cent of the patients were 60 or older, 9% were between 40 and 59 years’ old and 1% were less than 40 years’ old. There were 252 patients where pharmacists needed to provide clinical interventions. Concerning the causes of interventions, 200 interventions were related to NG tube uses (79.5%), 24 cases were related to antibiotic use (9.5%), 11 cases were related to interactions (including drug-drug and drug-food interactions), 15 cases were related to unusual dosing instructions and adverse drug reactions (6%), and dosage adjustment and unique dosage form each contributed one case (03%). Of all interventions provided, 30 cases required contacting doctors for prescription changes, 19 cases were related to the use of NG tube, four cases were interaction-related and seven cases were related to antibiotic use.ConclusionIn summary, the majority of patients who had referrals for the pharmacist discharge consultation service were patients over 60-years-old and had a NG tube installed. Most patients included in this study are bed-ridden and incapable of managing on their own. The care-aids are often foreign maids who may have language barriers, hence, pharmacist should pay more attention to ensure that all the information provided is well understood by the care-aids in order to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the drug therapies.References and/or AcknowledgementsAcknowledge all the pharmacists providing pharmaceutical intervention and education for the discharge patients.No conflict of interest

BackgroundAgeing is the current global trend and one of the most important issues. It is possible to have drug-related problems in elderly patients due to incorrect medication-taking at home. Drug safety of elderly patients with long-term care at home is increasingly of concern.PurposeThe present study was to identify the drug-related problems of the elderly with chronic diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and hyperglycaemia) by pharmacists’ home visits and to reveal the helpfulness and demands of the pharmaceutical home care service.Material and methodsHome visits were conducted to provide pharmaceutical home care in elderly patients with chronic diseases. Patients’ data and drug-related problems, pharmacists’ suggestions and patients’ feedback were described and evaluated to reveal the effectiveness of pharmaceutical home care.ResultsA total of 365 elderly patients with chronic diseases are included in the study. The majority of these patients are aged between 81–90 (56.4%). 1049 drug-related problems were found in totality and 2.87 problems per patient on average. The top three common problems are: the deficiency in disease knowledge (64.1%), medication knowledge deficit (54.5%) and prescription problems (43.6%). Generally, 90% of the patients consider the pharmacists’ suggestions useful and more than 70% of the patients require pharmacists’ services.ConclusionThe results reveal the drug-related problems of elderly patients with long-term care at home, and show that pharmaceutical home care is very helpful and required for these patients. Patterns of prescription problems and influencing factors of patients’ demand for pharmacists’ home visits will be further studied.References and/or AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge all the pharmacists providing pharmaceutical home care and the funding support of the Department of Health, Taipei.No conflict of interest