The Impact of Clinical Pharmacists on Cardiovascular Disease Management in Spain: A Community Pharmacy-Based Intervention Study

Deepak Kumar Sahu ¹*, Himanshu Nirmal Chandu ¹

This study determined the critical role of clinical pharmacists in reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors, improving patient outcomes through community-based interventions.

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a significant global health concern, causing 17.3 million deaths annually. In Spain, CVD accounts for 14.6% of mortality, necessitating effective management strategies. Clinical Pharmacists (CPs) have emerged as crucial players in early CVD identification and management, particularly through community pharmacies. Methods: This study enrolled 900 individuals across 55 pharmacies, with 820 meeting inclusion criteria based on existing CVD risk factors. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving standard treatment (n = 353) or an intervention group receiving enhanced guidance from CPs (n = 375). Outcomes measured included changes in CVD risk factors, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and smoking cessation over a three-month period. Results: The intervention group exhibited a statistically significant reduction in projected CVD risk, with a mean decrease of 6.42% (p < 0.001). Improvements were noted in LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index in both groups, underscoring the effectiveness of CP-led interventions. No adverse events were reported. Conclusion: CPs play a vital role in managing CVD risk factors through education, counseling, and medication management. This study highlights the effectiveness of CP interventions in community pharmacy settings, emphasizing the need for further research to evaluate long-term clinical and humanistic outcomes. Expanding the role of CPs in the healthcare system could significantly alleviate the burden of CVD in Spain.

Keywords: Cardiovascular Disease, Clinical Pharmacists, Community Pharmacy, Risk Factor Management, Patient Outcomes

References

Bays, H. E., Taub, P. R., Epstein, E., Michos, E. D., Ferraro, R. A., Bailey, A. L., ... & Toth, P. P. (2021). Ten things to know about ten cardiovascular disease risk factors. American journal of preventive cardiology, 5, 100149.

Cacciatore, S., Spadafora, L., Bernardi, M., Galli, M., Betti, M., Perone, F., ... & Sabouret, P. (2023). Management of coronary artery disease in older adults: recent advances and gaps in evidence. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(16), 5233.

Cheng-Lai, A., Prlesi, L., Murthy, S., Bellin, E. Y., Sinnett, M. J., & Goriacko, P. (2023). Evaluating pharmacist-led heart failure transitions of care clinic: impact of analytic approach on readmission rate endpoints—current Problems in Cardiology, 48(2), 101507.

Chieng, D., & Kistler, P. M. (2022). Coffee and tea on cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. Trends in cardiovascular medicine, 32(7), 399-405.

Gómez-García, C. A., Askar-Rodriguez, M., & Velasco-Medina, J. (2021). Platform for healthcare promotion and cardiovascular disease prevention. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 25(7), 2758-2767.

Jilani, M. H., Javed, Z., Yahya, T., Valero-Elizondo, J., Khan, S. U., Kash, B., ... & Nasir, K. (2021). Social determinants of health and cardiovascular disease: current state and future directions towards healthcare equity. Current atherosclerosis reports, 23, 1-11.

Lavanya, P., Subba, R.I.V., Selvakumar, V. & Shreesh V Deshpande. (2024). An Intelligent Health Surveillance System: Predictive Modeling of Cardiovascular Parameters through Machine Learning Algorithms Using LoRa Communication and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Journal of Internet Services and Information Security, 14(1), 165-179.

Ortega, P. G., Morante, E. S., Basas, L. G., Garcia, P. L., Torres, P. R., Pujol, L. M., ... & Torner, M. G. (2022). 4CPS-226 The role of the clinical pharmacist in screening candidates for onco-hematological clinical trials.

R. Mohandas, S. Veena, G. Kirubasri, I. Thusnavis Bella Mary, & R. Udayakumar. (2024). Federated Learning with Homomorphic Encryption for Ensuring Privacy in Medical Data. Indian Journal of Information Sources and Services, 14(2), 17–23. https://doi.org/10.51983/ijiss-2024.14.2.03

Sahin, B., & Ilgün, G. (2022). Risk factors of deaths related to cardiovascular diseases in World Health Organization (WHO) member countries. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(1), 73-80.

Satish S., & Herald, A.R. (2024). Fuzzy Attention U-Net Architecture Based Localization and YOLOv5 Detection for Fetal Cardiac Ultrasound Images. Journal of Wireless Mobile Networks, Ubiquitous Computing, and Dependable Applications, 15(1), 01-16.

Schulz, M., Griese-Mammen, N., Schumacher, P. M., Anker, S. D., Koehler, F., Ruckes, C., ... & Laufs, U. (2020). The impact of pharmacist/physician care on quality of life in elderly heart failure patients: results of the PHARM-CHF randomized controlled trial. ESC Heart Failure, 7(6), 3310-3319.

Stephen, K. V. K., Mathivanan, V., Manalang, A. R., Udinookkaran, P., De Vera, R. P. N., Shaikh, M. T., & Al-Harthy, F. R. A. (2023). IOT-Based Generic Health Monitoring with Cardiac Classification Using Edge Computing. Journal of Internet Services and Information Security, 13(2), 128-145.

Sumiati., Penny, H., Agung, T., Afrasim, Y., & Achmad, S. (2024). Classification of Heart Disorders Using an Artificial Neural Network Approach. Journal of Internet Services and Information Security, 14(2), 189-201.

Surendar, A., Veerappan, S., Sadulla, S., & Arvinth, N. (2024). Lung cancer segmentation and detection using KMP algorithm. Onkologia i Radioterapia, 18(4).

Wu, C., Xu, C., Ou, S., Wu, X., Guo, J., Qi, Y., & Cai, S. (2024). A novel approach for diabetic foot diagnosis: Deep learning-based detection of lower extremity arterial stenosis. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 207, 111032.