Impact of a clinical pharmacist consultation on enhancing knowledge and safety skills in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritis treated with bDMARDs.

Objectives: Biologic-disease-modifying anti-rheumatic-drugs (bDMARDs) effectively manage chronic inflammatory arthritis (IA), but carry risks. To address patient knowledge gaps about treatment, pharmacist consultations have been implemented at our hospital. This study evaluated the impact of pharmacist consultations on knowledge and safety skills related to bDMARDs in patients with IA at three (M3), six (M6) and twelve months (M12) post- pharmacist intervention and identified patient factors associated with improved knowledge.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire, BioSecure (score from 0 (worst) to 100 (optimal)), was utilised during consultations to address unlearned bDMARD knowledge with patients. The same questionnaire was administered at M3, M6 and M12. The primary outcome measured patient knowledge by comparing BioSecure mean scores from baseline to others time points. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of patients with good knowledge levels (BioSecure score >84), percentage of patients missing knowledge per topic and the patient factors associated with knowledge improvement at baseline.

Results: Among 99 patients, mean (SD) BioSecure score at baseline, M3, M6 and M12 were 70.7 (18.0), 80.9 (15.5), 83.1 (14.5) and 82.5 (14.4) respectively (p<0.001). Percentages of patients with good knowledge at baseline, M3, M6 and M12 were 23.8%, 57.1%, 59.5% and 57.1% respectively (p<0.001). Patient factors associated with improved knowledge included RAPID 3 <7.5, family status, information from community pharmacist, and low Charlson scores.

Conclusions: This study highlights the positive impact of pharmacist consultations on enhancing knowledge and safety skills in patients with IA and treated with bDMARDs. The lack of a control group limits interpretation of the finding.