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Rheumatoid ArthritisDRAMATICNCT03827148

Impact of Pharmacist Intervention on Disease Knowledge, Rehabilitation and Medication Adherence, Treatment Induced Direct Cost, Health-related Quality of Life and Satisfaction in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

A study testing Pharmaceutical Care in people with Rheumatoid Arthritis, run by Universiti Sains Malaysia at 1 site in Pakistan.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The objective of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of pharmacist intervention in improving disease knowledge, adherence to treatment, health related quality of life and direct cost of treatment. The study also documented patient satisfaction with pharmacist counselling as a quality control measure. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Rheumatoid Arthritis
What is being tested?
Pharmaceutical Care
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
714 participants
Where
1 sitePakistan
Study dates
17 Nov 2018to 1 Jul 2019
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

None listed.

Who cannot join

  • Patients were excluded from the study if they had any of the following conditions:
  • Patients with musculoskeletal illnesses other than rheumatoid arthritis
  • Patients with a recent history of surgery or planned surgery for rheumatoid arthritis
  • Patients with more than three co-morbidities
  • Patients with any lab abnormalities, being treated for liver or kidney disease
  • Patients who have had a severe infection and have completed antibiotic course in the last week
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  • Patients with advanced cardiovascular disease, severe allergies or a rare disease
  • Patients who are currently participating in other clinical trial or have participated in the last three months.
  • Pregnant patients, planning to become pregnant, breast feeding and females with other gynecological issues were not included.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Pakistan1 site
  • Clifton Central Hospital

    Karachi, Sindh, 75600

Other trials in Pakistan

About this study

Official title: Impact of Pharmacist Intervention on Disease Knowledge, Rehabilitation and Medication Adherence, Treatment Induced Direct Cost, Health-related Quality of Life and Satisfaction in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: a Randomized Single-blind Two-arm Controlled Trial

The objective of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of pharmacist intervention in improving disease knowledge, adherence to treatment, health related quality of life and direct cost of treatment. The study also documented patient satisfaction with pharmacist counselling as a quality control measure.

This is a randomized controlled single-blind two-arm trial in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Karachi, Pakistan. The study will enroll patients with established diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis over three months. The patients after signing written consent would be randomized through a computer-generated list in control group, i.e., usual care and intervention group, i.e., pharmaceutical care with a ratio of 1:1. The study will take place in three patient-visits over the course of three months. The patients would be intervened by pharmacist in intervention group while those in control group will have usual care. Primary outcomes include change in mean score at follow-up, i.e., week 12, for disease knowledge, adherence to medications and rehabilitation/physical therapy, health related quality of life (HRQoL). The secondary outcomes include change in the mean direct cost of treatment and patient satisfaction from pharmacist counselling.

This is a novel study that evaluates the role of pharmacist in improving treatment outcomes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results of this trial could set the foundation for future delivery of care for such patients in Pakistan. The results of this trial would be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Read the detailed description

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mainly affects the joints and results in pain, swelling and decreased mobility. The disease over the course of time, leads to joint deformity and disability. The disease ranks third as major cause of disability after osteoarthritis and gout and affects roughly 1% of global population. Decrease mobility in patients results in decreased productivity and further worsens their quality of life. While pharmacological treatment may be essential in managing the acute flares and episodic pain associated with the disease, self-care and home-based management of RA is another important area of care which patients need to incorporate to manage it effectively.

Several studies have reported that self-care in RA effectively reduces acute flares. This could be done through the use of patient education and counselling. Pharmacist provide pharmaceutical care that incorporates these areas of care. Pharmaceutical care is an individualized patient-centric health service delivered by pharmacists that incorporates, but is not limited to, disease education, therapy management, self-care and self-management of disease and therapy as well as motivational guidance.

Evidence from several randomized trials indicate that patient counselling, disease education and telephonic interventions have improved self-care practices of patients. Educating patients about managing RA empowers them in understanding signs and symptoms of disease and devise ways to reduce or limit aggravating factors. A randomized trial conducted by Petkova that involved community pharmacy-based patient education program improved treatment outcomes of arthritis patients. Moreover, Mary and colleagues demonstrated positive effect of mobile phone short message service on medication adherence of patients with RA.

In the last decade there has been only few studies that have evaluated the impact of pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care on treatment outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In Pakistan, no study has been conducted till date that evaluates the same. Since, the disease prevalence has increased in Pakistani population of late, and mainly affects the middle-aged individuals, it is expected to affect their productivity, employ-ability and income. This would worsen their health-related quality of life and adds to economic burden of this disease on the society. Therefore, a need was felt to evaluate the impact of pharmacist-delivered pharmaceutical care on treatment outcomes in Pakistani patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Being tested
Pharmaceutical Care
Keywords
Pharmacist intervention, Disease knowledge, Medication adherence, Rehabilitation, Physical therapy, Health related quality of life, Direct cost of treatment, Rheumatoid arthritis, Pakistan, Out-patients
Medical subject headings
Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Medication Adherence

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Pharmaceutical CareOther

    Pharmaceutical care is an individualized patient-centric health service delivered by pharmacists that incorporates, but is not limited to, disease education, therapy management, self-care and self-management of disease and therapy as well as motivational guidance.

Study groups in NCT03827148
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Intervention: Pharmacist-delivered pharmaceutical careExperimentalThe intervention consist of a pharmacist providing pharmaceutical care with aim to improve the treatment outcomes. It will be in the form of a single face-to-face session by pharmacist. Moreover, a specially designed rheumatoid arthritis disease education literature will be provided in both Urdu and English languages to patients for home use. The patients will be provided a contact number at which the pharmacist will be available at all times for the next three months (week 12). A specially designated counselling area in the pharmacy department of the hospitals served as venues for intervention.
Receives: Other: Pharmaceutical Care
Control: Usual CareNo interventionThe patient in control group will have usual care without pharmacist intervention.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Rheumatoid arthritis disease knowledge

    Patient knowledge regarding rheumatoid arthritis will be assessed after three months (week 12) from baseline (week 0). The Rheumatoid Knowledge Assessment Scale (RAKAS) will be used to measure rheumatoid arthritis disease knowledge. The RAKAS is a thirteen-item scale that contains questions related to knowledge, symptoms, treatment and risk factors. The items are multiple choice questions (MCQs) and correct answer awards a score while the wrong answers provides no score. A cumulative score is calculated which is interpreted as excellent, good, low and poor knowledge.

    Measured: 3 months

  2. Treatment adherence

    Patient adherence to rehabilitation/physical therapy after three months (week 12) from baseline (week 0). The assessment of adherence to rehabilitation/physical therapy, will be done through Urdu version of General Rehabilitation Adherence Scale (GRAS).

    Measured: 3 months

  3. Medication adherence

    Patient adherence to medication therapy after three months (week 12) from baseline (week 0). For the assessment of adherence to medication and pharmacotherapy, the Urdu version of General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS) will be used.

    Measured: 3 months

  4. Health related quality of life (HRQoL)

    It will be assessed after three months (week 12) from baseline (week 0).The EQ-5D-5L is a generic tool to measure health and provides a numeric value for health status of patient. The score is then calculated as per the criteria specified by the EuroQol.

    Measured: 3 months

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Direct cost of treatment

    The mean direct cost of rheumatoid arthritis treatment after three months (week 12) from baseline (week 0) in patients enrolled in control (CG) and intervention groups (IG).

    Measured: 3 months

  2. Patient satisfaction

    Patient satisfaction resulting from pharmacist-led pharmaceutical care. The proportion (%) of patients in the intervention group (IG) who were satisfied with the intervention after three months (week 12) from baseline (week 0).

    Measured: 3 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted1 Feb 2019
  2. Study start17 Nov 2018
  3. Primary completion1 Jul 2019
  4. Study completion1 Jul 2019

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
This study is a randomized single-blind parallel trial. The patients who participate in this study after signing of consent would be randomly assigned to either control group (CG), i.e., usual care or intervention group (IG), i.e., pharmaceutical care. The allocation ratio will be 1:1. The participants in the intervention group would be counselled by pharmacist, provided a disease education literature and would have access to pharmacist for 90 days via telephone. The participants in the control group would received usual care without pharmacist intervention.
Masking
Quadruple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
714 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03827148
Sponsor's protocol ID
USM
Acronym
DRAMATIC
Status last verified
Mar 2020
First submitted
29 Jan 2019
Last updated
24 Mar 2020
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Naqvi AA, Hassali MA, Naqvi SBS, Aftab MT. Impact of pharmacist educational intervention on disease knowledge, rehabilitation and medication adherence, treatment-induced direct cost, health-related quality of life and satisfaction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2019 Aug 9;20(1):488. doi: 10.1186/s13063-019-3540-z.

    PubMed 31399128

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Pharmaceutical Care in people with Rheumatoid Arthritis, run by Universiti Sains Malaysia at 1 site in Pakistan.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 0 inclusion and 9 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Mar 2020. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Pakistan. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Rheumatoid arthritis disease knowledge (time frame: 3 months). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03827148, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Mar 2020.

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