Authors (including presenting author) :
Ho CTJ(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Pharmacy, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Pharmacist-staffed gout programmes were successful in achieving better sUA control, medication adherence and disease knowledge in gout patients. However, documentation of local involvement of pharmacists in gout care is limited. Therefore, a trial of a pilot pharmacist-staffed, multidisciplinary gout clinic was developed.
Objectives :
The goal of the study was to investigate the effect of a pilot pharmacist-staffed, multidisciplinary gout care clinic on the clinical outcomes of urate-lowering therapy (ULT).
Methodology :
The study was a pilot controlled trial of a pharmacist-staffed, multidisciplinary gout clinic. Patients started on urate-lowering therapy by rheumatologists for the treatment of gout were recruited and randomised. Sample size was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects in the control group received usual care from rheumatologists and nurses. Subjects in the intervention group attended consultations and phone follow ups with pharmacists throughout 20 weeks since the start of urate-lowering therapy apart from receiving usual care. Serum urate level (sUA) were monitored during the 20 weeks of follow up period. The primary outcome was achieving the target sUA at week 20.
Result & Outcome :
Sample size was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 10 subjects were recruited and randomised. 5 subjects were in the intervention group while the other 5 were in the control group. All 10 subjects completed the 20-week follow up period. 3 out of 5 subjects in the intervention group achieved the target sUA at week 18. None of the subjects in the control group achieved the target sUA at week 18 (p=0.095).
