Evaluation of outcomes of medication therapy management (MTM) services for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the outcomes of clinical pharmacist-led medication therapy management (MTM) services for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: Two hundred COPD patients admitted by the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Baoding No.1 Central Hospital during January 2019 and December 2020 were randomly assigned to a control group (n =100) and an experimental group (n =100). Patients in the control group received conventional treatment, while those in the experimental group were provided with MTM services based on the conventional treatment for comparative analysis of outcome measures, including use of antibacterials during hospital stay, length of stay (LoS), costs of hospitalization (CoH), cases of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and medication adherence (MA) and COPD assessment test (CAT) score one and six months after discharge. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the experimental group had reduced use of antibacterials during hospital stay, LoS, CoH, and ADR rate (P <0.05). After discharge, patients in both groups showed remarkable improvements in MA and CAT scores in comparison with their performances upon admission, and the experimental group exhibited better MA and higher CAT score than the control group, with the differences indicating statistical significance (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: MTM designed for COPD patients can improve pharmacist-led service quality and clinical outcomes of COPD.