Outcomes of Pharmaceutical Care in Patients with Chronic Asthma at Dokkhamtai Hospital

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the outcomes of a pharmacological care program for patients with asthma attending the asthma clinic of Dok Khamtai Hospital during June 20140 – May 2012. The program included the analysis of the types and frequency of problems relating to the use of asthma drugs including the inhaler technique, and the advice and training on correct use of the drugs by pharmacists. The outcomes were measures by the episodes of severe asthma attacks that needed emergency hospital care or admission, compared with the similar incidents during 1 year duration before the program implementation. The samples were purposively selected among asthma patients based on the inclusion criteria. Data collection tools were developed; and descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage as well as the chi square were used for the analysis. There were altogether 184 patients enrolled; and there were 225 items of problems associated with the use of drug, of which 52.44% were related to too small dosage of drugs. Assessment of inhaler use revealed the percentage of correct use of 62.75, 89.47 and 100 after the first, the second and the third training, respectively. The number of severe asthma attacks requiring emergency room services or hospitalization was found to be significantly reducing (p<0.05). The pharmacological care program was found to be effective in reducing the problems relating to drug use, resulting in the decline of severe asthma attacks; and thus improve the quality of life of asthma patients.