(1075) Long-term Effect of Pharmacist-led Interventions on Diabetes Distress Among People with Type 2 Diabetes in a Community Care Setting

Objectives: The objective is to determine the sustainability and effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions on diabetes distress and depression score amongst people with type 2 diabetes in a pharmacist-run community care clinic. In a previous study conducted by the authors, diabetes distress was present in the majority of people with diabetes, regardless of A1C. Authors found that pharmacist-led educational interventions based on the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES)7 Self-Care Behaviors were effective in reducing diabetes distress and depression scores. This study is a 1-year post assessment designed to evaluate the long-term effect of pharmacist-led interventions.

Methods: Forty-five adult participants with type 2 diabetes who completed the previous diabetes distress study will be recruited for the 1-year post assessment during routine visits at the clinic. Participants who do not have a scheduled appointment will be contacted via phone for recruitment and scheduling. After providing written informed consent, participants will receive a point-of-care A1c test, weight measurement, and survey including the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and satisfaction questions. A score of 3 or higher on the PHQ-2 will prompt a PHQ-9 screen. The DDS is a 17-item scale where participants rate each item from 1 (not a problem) to 6 (a very serious problem). The items are divided into 4 subscales: emotional burden, physician distress, regimen distress, and interpersonal distress, with a score of 2.0 or higher signifying distress. Post-intervention and 1-year follow-up data will be compared using paired sample t-tests. All analyses will be performed using SPSS Windows (version 28), and a significance level of p < 0.05 will be applied for all inferential statistical tests. This study was approved by the Western New England University Institutional Review Board.

Results: This study will measure the changes in diabetes distress and depression scores at least one year following completion of the previous study. The previous study showed that diabetes distress was present in the majority of participants, regardless of A1c level. The pharmacist-led interventions significantly reduced overall DDS scores, emotional burden, regimen distress, and PHQ-2 scores.

Conclusions: The results will demonstrate how diabetes distress may change over time among people with type 2 diabetes and identify the long-term effectiveness of pharmacist-led educational interventions in the community care setting.