OBJECTIVES:

Evidence suggests that pharmacist interventions are likely to have a positive clinical impact on dyslipidemia management in developed countries. There has been little or no research on clinical pharmacists managing dyslipidemia in developing countries. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the clinical Impact of pharmacist intervention on dyslipidemia patients in the Indian population.

METHODS:

This randomized controlled trial was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital in India for 18 months (July 2021 – December 2022). The trial was prospectively registered to the clinical trial registry of India (CTRI). Patients meeting inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study after taking written informed consent. The clinical pharmacist provided recommendations (As per Adult Treatment Panel III) along with a pre-validated patient information leaflet on dyslipidemia in the intervention group compared to the control group with usual standard care. The patient information leaflet provides information about cholesterol, dyslipidemia, and its risk factors. A clinical pharmacist followed up with patients monthly via telephone and twice in the hospital after three and six months, respectively. In this study, mean reductions in LDL-C were the primary outcome.

RESULTS:

A total of 378 patients (186 in the intervention group and 192 in the control group) were recruited into the study. Males were 56% (213), and the remaining were females. The intervention group achieved a 10.23% and 24.42% mean reduction in LDL-C in 1^st and 2^nd follow-ups, respectively, from baseline compared with 5.69% and 17.04% in the control group, respectively (P<0.05). 38.71% of patients in the intervention group achieved LDL-C goals compared to 23.44% of the control group (P<0.05) at the end of six months.

CONCLUSIONS:

Clinical pharmacist interventions demonstrated a positive clinical impact on managing dyslipidemia among the Indian population.