Abstract

DE SOUZA REIS, Vanessa et al. Pharmacist counseling for patients with mood disorders. Rev Cubana Farm [online]. 2013, vol.47, n.3, pp.353-362. ISSN 0034-7515.

Introduction: pharmaceutical care is the direct interaction of the pharmacist and the user in order to achieve rational drug therapy and to obtain defined measurable results aimed at improving the life quality of the patient. Depression is considered one of the ten main causes of disability worldwide since it restricts the physical, social and personal functioning of the individual. However, few people having these health problems receive proper treatment and directions about their disease and therapy. Objective: to evaluate the pharmaceutical care service through counseling on the effectiveness of and adherence to drug therapy. Methods: nineteen patients were selected, aged 15 to 82 years and with mood disorders. They were all seen at the Psychosocial and Outpatient Care Center of UNIFENAS in Brazil. They were visited at home to give instructions to them about their disease, adverse reactions, and drug interactions, length of treatment and importance of adherence to therapy. Beck depression inventory and Morisky´s test were used to evaluate adherence to treatment before and after the pharmacist counseling. Results: most of patients were Catholic women, who had been under study for up to 9 years. When comparing the results of the application of the Beck depression inventory before and after the pharmacist counseling, there was observed an statistically significant difference ((p= 0.0354), with a reduction of roughly 6 point in Beck´s score (24,22 for 18). The adherence to treatment rate increased since the number of patients who showed high rate of adherence to therapy rose from 21.06 % to 42.10 %. Conclusions: the results suggest that the pharmacist counseling could be a useful method to achieve better outcomes in adherence to and effectiveness of treatment.

Keywords : pharmaceutical care; effectiveness; pharmacist counseling; mood disorders.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )