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Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

The arrival of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 adversely affected every aspect of human life, including the management of asthma. The pandemic has forced clinicians to revisit the application of high-risk aerosol-generating procedures in asthma management, including spirometry and nebuliser therapy....

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Autores principales: Md Khairi, Lukman Nul Hakim, Gnanasan, Shubashini
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10467601/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37655143
http://dx.doi.org/10.21315/mjms2023.30.4.4
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author Md Khairi, Lukman Nul Hakim
Gnanasan, Shubashini
author_facet Md Khairi, Lukman Nul Hakim
Gnanasan, Shubashini
author_sort Md Khairi, Lukman Nul Hakim
collection PubMed
description The arrival of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 adversely affected every aspect of human life, including the management of asthma. The pandemic has forced clinicians to revisit the application of high-risk aerosol-generating procedures in asthma management, including spirometry and nebuliser therapy. The use of commercial spacers with pressurised metered-dose inhalers to replace nebulisation is limited by the high cost and pandemic-induced stock unavailability of these inhalers. The need for social distancing, healthcare reserves reallocation, and scarce personal protective equipment has promote increased telemedicine uptake for patients’ asthma control and monitoring. Malaysian pharmacists have been providing long-term care of asthma through the introduction of the respiratory Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic (MTAC) to empower patients’ general health literacy, train and regularly evaluate their inhalation technique, and reinforce the importance of medication compliance. To minimise the use of unplanned healthcare resources and avoidable COVID-19 infection exposure, Malaysian pharmacists need to better support asthma self-management via increased uptake of written Asthma Action Plans (AAPs). Pharmacist-led asthma treatment step-down to attain the lowest effective dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) has become increasingly relevant during the pandemic, as its prolonged use carries risk of numerous side effects and possible hospitalisation. Telepharmacy offers a promising model for exploration and an alternative to the traditional service delivery of asthma education. Despite not being authorised as vaccinators, Malaysian pharmacists hold strong positions in COVID-19 immunisation programmes for pharmacovigilance and advocacy. The pandemic demands an increased role for pharmacists within medication management to prevent patients from the stockpiling that can cause adverse effects on pharmaceutical supply chain. This review intends to summarise the impact of COVID-19 on asthma management, with a focus on the transitional roles of Malaysian pharmacists before and after the pandemic era.
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spelling pubmed-104676012023-08-31 Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review Md Khairi, Lukman Nul Hakim Gnanasan, Shubashini Malays J Med Sci Review Article The arrival of COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 adversely affected every aspect of human life, including the management of asthma. The pandemic has forced clinicians to revisit the application of high-risk aerosol-generating procedures in asthma management, including spirometry and nebuliser therapy. The use of commercial spacers with pressurised metered-dose inhalers to replace nebulisation is limited by the high cost and pandemic-induced stock unavailability of these inhalers. The need for social distancing, healthcare reserves reallocation, and scarce personal protective equipment has promote increased telemedicine uptake for patients’ asthma control and monitoring. Malaysian pharmacists have been providing long-term care of asthma through the introduction of the respiratory Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic (MTAC) to empower patients’ general health literacy, train and regularly evaluate their inhalation technique, and reinforce the importance of medication compliance. To minimise the use of unplanned healthcare resources and avoidable COVID-19 infection exposure, Malaysian pharmacists need to better support asthma self-management via increased uptake of written Asthma Action Plans (AAPs). Pharmacist-led asthma treatment step-down to attain the lowest effective dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) has become increasingly relevant during the pandemic, as its prolonged use carries risk of numerous side effects and possible hospitalisation. Telepharmacy offers a promising model for exploration and an alternative to the traditional service delivery of asthma education. Despite not being authorised as vaccinators, Malaysian pharmacists hold strong positions in COVID-19 immunisation programmes for pharmacovigilance and advocacy. The pandemic demands an increased role for pharmacists within medication management to prevent patients from the stockpiling that can cause adverse effects on pharmaceutical supply chain. This review intends to summarise the impact of COVID-19 on asthma management, with a focus on the transitional roles of Malaysian pharmacists before and after the pandemic era. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia 2023-08 2023-08-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10467601/ /pubmed/37655143 http://dx.doi.org/10.21315/mjms2023.30.4.4 Text en © Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ).
spellingShingle Review Article
Md Khairi, Lukman Nul Hakim
Gnanasan, Shubashini
Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_full Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_fullStr Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_full_unstemmed Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_short Emerging Roles of Malaysian Pharmacists in Asthma Management Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review
title_sort emerging roles of malaysian pharmacists in asthma management amidst the covid-19 pandemic: a narrative review
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10467601/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37655143
http://dx.doi.org/10.21315/mjms2023.30.4.4
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