The effect of patient-oriented pharmaceutical services on the treatment outcomes of ambulatory patients with diabetes mellitus was studied. Forty female diabetes meliitus patients who met specific criteria were randomly assigned to either the study or control group. pharmaceutical services to the control group were limited to the dispensing of all prescribed formulary medications, and clarification of the physician's directives. The objectives of the expanded services to the study group were to (1) monitor - patient drug therapy through a patient profile so as to help ensure the safety and efficacy of the therapeutic regimen, and (2) provide the patient with information and training to improve patient compliance. Patients in the study group were more compliant in keeping clinic appointments (p < 0.001) and made fewer medication errors (p < 0.005). Patient symptomatology in the study group improved for five out of eight factors monitored. The study patients required fewer changes in therapeutic regimen (p < 0.001) and had a lower incidence of hospital admissions and medical contacts (p < 0.01). The amount of pharmacist time required by the study patients was 2.3 times greater than for the control group. It was concluded that patient-oriented pharmaceutical services may have a beneficial effect on the therapeutic outcomes of ambulatory diabetes meliitus patients.
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Sczupak et al. (1977) studied this question.