Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background and aim Hypothyroidism (HoT) treatment involves lifelong thyroxine replacement therapy and regular monitoring. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of clinical pharmacist (CP) intervention in managing drug-related problems (DRPs) on outcomes among patients with Ho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yunus Emre Ayhan, Muhammed Yunus Bektay, Dilek Gogas Yavuz, Mesut Sancar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Endocrine Disorders
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-025-01914-3
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850187414359769088
author Yunus Emre Ayhan
Muhammed Yunus Bektay
Dilek Gogas Yavuz
Mesut Sancar
author_facet Yunus Emre Ayhan
Muhammed Yunus Bektay
Dilek Gogas Yavuz
Mesut Sancar
author_sort Yunus Emre Ayhan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background and aim Hypothyroidism (HoT) treatment involves lifelong thyroxine replacement therapy and regular monitoring. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of clinical pharmacist (CP) intervention in managing drug-related problems (DRPs) on outcomes among patients with HoT receiving levothyroxine (LT4) therapy. Method A randomized controlled trial involved patients with HoT attending a university hospital’s endocrinology and metabolism outpatient clinic from March 2022 to September 2022. Participants were randomly assigned to control (CG) and intervention groups (IG). CP identified and classified DRPs based on Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) v9.1 criteria. The validated version of the Morisky-Green-Levine (MGL) 4-question scale was used to measure adherence. All patients included in the study were assessed during their first visit and again two months later at their second visit. Results 43 patients were assigned to the CG (n = 25) and IG (n = 18). Diabetes (21.6 vs. 20.5%) and hypertension (16.2% vs. 11.7%) were the most prevalent comorbidities in both the CG and IG, respectively. A total of 118 DRPs belonging to both groups were detected. In the IG group, the total number of DRPs significantly decreased from 66 to 24, and the total potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) decreased from 21 to 0 between the first and second visits (p < 0.001). CG and IG patients had no difference in adherence levels at the first and second visits (p > 0.05). A statistically significant increase in adherence to the time of taking the medication was observed between the first and second visits in IG (55.5% vs. 94.4%, p = 0.008). Conclusion This study highlights the frequent occurrence of DRPs and LT4 therapy adherence problems in patients with HoT. The findings suggest that the intervention of CPs, by increasing adherence to LT4 therapy and decreasing DRPs, could significantly contribute to improving patients’ treatment outcomes. Trial registration This study protocol has been retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06408909) at 06/05/2024.
format Article
id doaj-art-04f582cf2afe4afdbcff95d6f9c822a2
institution OA Journals
issn 1472-6823
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Endocrine Disorders
spelling doaj-art-04f582cf2afe4afdbcff95d6f9c822a22025-08-20T02:16:06ZengBMCBMC Endocrine Disorders1472-68232025-04-0125111210.1186/s12902-025-01914-3Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trialYunus Emre Ayhan0Muhammed Yunus Bektay1Dilek Gogas Yavuz2Mesut Sancar3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşcıoğlu City HospitalDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Faculty of PharmacyDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Marmara University School of MedicineFaculty of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Marmara UniversityAbstract Background and aim Hypothyroidism (HoT) treatment involves lifelong thyroxine replacement therapy and regular monitoring. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of clinical pharmacist (CP) intervention in managing drug-related problems (DRPs) on outcomes among patients with HoT receiving levothyroxine (LT4) therapy. Method A randomized controlled trial involved patients with HoT attending a university hospital’s endocrinology and metabolism outpatient clinic from March 2022 to September 2022. Participants were randomly assigned to control (CG) and intervention groups (IG). CP identified and classified DRPs based on Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) v9.1 criteria. The validated version of the Morisky-Green-Levine (MGL) 4-question scale was used to measure adherence. All patients included in the study were assessed during their first visit and again two months later at their second visit. Results 43 patients were assigned to the CG (n = 25) and IG (n = 18). Diabetes (21.6 vs. 20.5%) and hypertension (16.2% vs. 11.7%) were the most prevalent comorbidities in both the CG and IG, respectively. A total of 118 DRPs belonging to both groups were detected. In the IG group, the total number of DRPs significantly decreased from 66 to 24, and the total potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) decreased from 21 to 0 between the first and second visits (p < 0.001). CG and IG patients had no difference in adherence levels at the first and second visits (p > 0.05). A statistically significant increase in adherence to the time of taking the medication was observed between the first and second visits in IG (55.5% vs. 94.4%, p = 0.008). Conclusion This study highlights the frequent occurrence of DRPs and LT4 therapy adherence problems in patients with HoT. The findings suggest that the intervention of CPs, by increasing adherence to LT4 therapy and decreasing DRPs, could significantly contribute to improving patients’ treatment outcomes. Trial registration This study protocol has been retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06408909) at 06/05/2024.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-025-01914-3HypothyroidismLevothyroxineDrug-related problemClinical pharmacistMedication adherence
spellingShingle Yunus Emre Ayhan
Muhammed Yunus Bektay
Dilek Gogas Yavuz
Mesut Sancar
Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial
BMC Endocrine Disorders
Hypothyroidism
Levothyroxine
Drug-related problem
Clinical pharmacist
Medication adherence
title Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial
title_full Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial
title_fullStr Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial
title_short Evaluation of the clinical pharmacist’s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism: a randomized controlled trial
title_sort evaluation of the clinical pharmacist s effect on achieving treatment goals in patients with hypothyroidism a randomized controlled trial
topic Hypothyroidism
Levothyroxine
Drug-related problem
Clinical pharmacist
Medication adherence
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-025-01914-3
work_keys_str_mv AT yunusemreayhan evaluationoftheclinicalpharmacistseffectonachievingtreatmentgoalsinpatientswithhypothyroidismarandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT muhammedyunusbektay evaluationoftheclinicalpharmacistseffectonachievingtreatmentgoalsinpatientswithhypothyroidismarandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT dilekgogasyavuz evaluationoftheclinicalpharmacistseffectonachievingtreatmentgoalsinpatientswithhypothyroidismarandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT mesutsancar evaluationoftheclinicalpharmacistseffectonachievingtreatmentgoalsinpatientswithhypothyroidismarandomizedcontrolledtrial