Objective: To evaluate the effects of pharmacist counseling for lymphoma patients.
Material and Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial. Lymphoma patients receiving a first course of anticancer drugs were recruited from the hematologic clinic of Songklanagarind Hospital and randomly assigned to two groups. The study group of 30 patients received pharmacist counseling whereas the control group of 32 patients did not. All patients gave written informed consent. The study was conducted from May 2004 through March 2005. Data were collected by self-administered forms and interview at the start of the second, third, and fourth month-long courses of anticancer drugs. The reliability of every form was acceptable ( > 0.7). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The outcome measures included patient knowledge, self-care-related problems, drug-related problems, quality of life and patient satisfaction.
Results: Mean scores of knowledge were significantly increased within the study group at each of the second and third visits and were significantly higher than in the control group. Self-care-related problems and drug-related problems were significantly decreased within the study group at each of the second and third visits and were also significantly less than in the control group at the end of the study. However, there were no significant differences in the incidence and severity of adverse drug reactions and quality of life. The study group had significantly higher mean scores of satisfaction than the control group. Most patients (73%) reported their wish to have counseling more than four times during their treatment program.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the pharmacist can improve the quality of care in lymphoma patients by increasing patient knowledge and patient satisfaction, decreasing self-care-related problems and drug-related problems.