(1195) Impact of Community Pharmacist Intervention on Optimizing Over-the-counter Medications in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives: The objectives of this project are to assess the impact of community-pharmacist intervention on optimizing over-the-counter medications and resolving drug interactions in patients with type 2 diabetes. Community pharmacists are accessible and qualified to provide recommendations and make medication-related interventions for patients. Patients with type 2 diabetes often are at risk for drug-drug interactions due to the use of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications. In addition, diabetes medications have been shown to deplete vitamins and minerals essential for basic metabolic functions.

Methods: This prospective study will be conducted in a grocery-store pharmacy setting in rural North Carolina. Participants will be included if they are 18 years of age or older, patients at the specific location of the grocery store pharmacy, and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Participants will be excluded if they are less than 18 years of age, not patients at the specific location of the grocery store pharmacy, or not diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Potential participants will be identified using the pharmacy dispensing software. Medication regimens selected will consist of medications used in type 2 diabetes. If patients have an eligible medication ready for pick-up, pharmacist consultation notes will be added to the patient’s pharmacy profile. When the patient arrives at the point-of-sale, pharmacists will be prompted by the pharmacy dispensing software to confirm a diagnosis of diabetes. For those who agree to participate, contact information and preferred date of contact will be documented onto a printed Contact Information Sheet at the pharmacy counter. A patient’s acceptance or declination of participation will be annotated as a patient note within their pharmacy profile to avoid duplication. Contact Information Sheets will be saved and filed until the patient has been contacted. There will be a rolling open enrollment of three months or until one hundred participants to complete the study, whichever is sooner. Interviews will take place via phone unless the patient requests an in-person interview. The pharmacist will ask the patient a series of questions about their use of prescription and OTC medications and perform a medication review. The pharmacist will then perform a drug interaction check on the OTC and prescription medications using a drug information resource. If a drug interaction exists, the pharmacist will make a recommendation to increase medication safety. If the patient is not taking any OTC medications, the pharmacist may recommend an OTC product, if appropriate. The OTC medication information collected during the initial interview will be documented in the patient’s pharmacy profile. Patient follow-up will occur at one month after initial intervention to determine if recommendations were accepted. A five-question survey will be given at time of follow up to determine if the pharmacist’s intervention affected the patient’s perception of community pharmacists. Contact Information Sheets from initial contact will be shredded after the interview and follow-up have been conducted. A Microsoft Excel file will be created with documentation of patient interviews and each patient will be de-identified using a numbering system. The numbering system will correspond to a master file which will contain the patient’s name, date of birth, and contact information. Both Microsoft Excel files will be password-protected and stored on a password-protected computer. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Institutional Review Board approval is anticipated in October 2023. Data collection will occur from November 2023 to January 2024. Data will be analyzed in February 2024.

Conclusions: The goal of this study is to improve the quality of OTC medication usage and medication safety in patients with type 2 diabetes. The project aims to provide OTC medication education for patients of the grocery store community pharmacy.