Pharmacist-led educational interventions on determinants of diabetic nephropathy among diabetic patients in malaysia

SUMMARY. The impact of pharmacists is proven for patient drug therapy, appropriateness, effectiveness, and patient compliance towards the treatment plan. The current study aimed to appraise the impact of pharmacist-led educational intervention on diabetic nephropathy determinants among diabetic patients in Malaysia. In two different tertiary care hospitals, a total of 400 diabetic patients were equally and randomly divided into control and intervention groups. Both study groups patients got the same standard medication from the hospitals, but the intervention group patients, in conjunction with the traditional treatment, also had separate counselling meetings with pharmacists. The total duration of the study was one year, and four follow-ups. A self-prepared and pre-validated data collection form was used to measure the improvement in diabetic nephropathy determinants in diabetic patients. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used to analyse and present the data. The statistically significant reduction in HbA1c was observed which was up to 2.43% in the control group and was 3.78% in the intervention group from the baseline data in one year. The univariate and multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant improvement in determinants of diabetic nephropathy (p < 0.05). At the end of the study, Regression analysis showed that the statistical significant improvement changes between both of the study groups in ‘microalbuminuria’ (p = 0.033), ‘Proteinuria’ (p = 0.046) and ‘polyuria’ (p = 0.013). A statistically significant improvements were detected in the sign and symptoms of diabetic nephropathy in the intervention group after one year. The development of diabetic nephropathy was significantly decreased in the intervention group.