Impact of pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care on health-related and pharmaceutical therapy-related quality of life in patients with heart failure: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background

Data on the impact of pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care (PC) on pharmaceutical therapy-related and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and their sensitivities to PC provision in patients with heart failure (HF) are scarce.

Objectives

This study aimed to assess the impact of pharmacist-led PC on HRQoL employing the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) and 5-level EuroQol 5 dimension (EQ-5D-5L) and on pharmaceutical therapy-related quality of life using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measure of Pharmaceutical Therapy (PROMPT) in HF patients and compare sensitivities to the PC provision of these three tools.

Methods

A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary public hospital in Thailand between November 2022 and May 2023. Overall, 250 patients were randomly divided into the usual care (UC) (N = 124) and PC (N = 126) groups. Mixed effects models were used to investigate the differences in the mean change scores of PROMPT, EQ-5D-5L, and MLHFQ between the UC and PC groups. The sensitivities to PC provision of the three measures were evaluated using standardized effect sizes (SESs).

Results

Significant differences were found in five of eight domains and the total score of the PROMPT between the PC and UC groups (all p < 0.05). However, no significant differences were found in the EQ-5D-5L and MLHFQ between the two groups (both p > 0.05). The SESs of the five domains and total score of PROMPT ranged from 0.29 to 1.65, considered small-to-large effect sizes, whereas the SESs of EQ-5D-5L and MLHFQ were −0.4 to 0, considered small effect sizes.

Conclusions

Pharmacist-led PC can positively affect pharmaceutical therapy-related quality of life using PROMPT in HF patients. Additionally, PROMPT is more sensitive to PC provision than EQ-5D-5L and MLHFQ.