A PHARMACIST BASED INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE THE CARE OF PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION AND DIABETES MELLITUS IN A PRIVATE INSTITUTION

The study was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of patient counselling in improving the quality of life (QOL) and knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of hypertensive and diabetic patients in a private educational institution. The study was conducted for a period of six months with the help of validated KAP and QOL questionnaire. Impact of patient counselling was studied by comparing the KAP and QOL score obtained after each subsequent patient counselling sessions. Data analysis was done by SPSS 16.1. Among 83 patients enrolled in the study, 40 were males and 43 were females. Out of 83 patients, 32 (38.55%) were diagnosed as hypertensives and 51 (61.44%) were diabetics. It was found that most of the hypertensives and diabetics were in the age group of 51-60 years. It was further found that the scores of knowledge (2.72 ± 1.80 to 4.88 ± 0.97), attitude (3.41 ± 1.73 to 4.94 ± 0.98) and practice (3.56 ± 1.86 to 6.28 ± 1.78) of hypertensive patients increased from baseline to second follow-up which was statistically significant (p<0.001). Similar results were observed in diabetic patients with a gradual increase in scores of knowledge (9.1 ± 3.44 to 13.75 ± 2.62), attitude (1.18 ± 0.86 to 2.53 ± 0.96) and practice (0.92 ± 0.84 to 1.67 ± 0.887), from the baseline to second follow-up which were statistically significant (p<0.001). In diabetic and hypertensive patients, the scores of  four domains of QOL from first follow-up to second follow-up were statistically significant with p <0.001. Study results highlights the need of educational interventions to improve KAP and QOL, thereby controlling disease progression, preventing complications of the diseases.