Effect of pharmacist-led patient education on glycemic control of type 2 diabetics: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a clinical pharmacist-led patient education program for type 2 diabetic patients at Isfahan Endocrine & Metabolism Research Center (IEMRC) from April 2008 to January 2009. METHODS: In a randomized controlled clinical trial, a total of 172 patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes were selected and randomly allocated into control and intervention groups. After taking informed written consent, the intervention group received an educational program about oral anti-hyperglycemic medications, adherence, diabetes dairy log and pill box usage. Patient's glycemic control in the intervention group was followed for three months through either telephone or face to face interviews with the pharmacist. Fasting blood glucose and HbA1c were measured at the start and end of the pharmacist-led drug education program for both intervention and control groups. RESULTS: After a three months follow-up, mean fasting blood glucose and HbA1c of the patients in the intervention group decreased significantly compared to control group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates an improvement in diabetes management of type 2 diabetics by involving a pharmacist in the multidisciplinary teams in the outpatient clinics. The results suggest the benefits of adding adherence education to the diabetic education programs.