A pilot evaluation of specialist community pharmacy services for patients with Parkinson's disease

Aim: To undertake a preliminary evaluation of a community pharmacy scheme in which Parkinson's disease patients could contact local specialist pharmacists about their Parkinson's disease medicines. Design: Longitudinal survey of patients registered in three primary care trusts. Subjects and selling: 145 patients with Parkinson's disease were recruited into the study at baseline, and followed up six months later. The service was delivered within community pharmacy premises and through home visits in three primary care trust locations. Outcome measures: The satisfaction with information about medication scales (SIMS), the medication adherence report scale (MARS). Quality of life was measured on the 39-item Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39). At follow up patients were also asked questions about their views of the service. Pharmacists also documented the problems they identified and actions they took as a result. Results: Statistically significant improvements were found in the proportion of people indicating satisfaction with information on what the medicine does and on possible impact on sex life. Furthermore a significant improvement was found on the "potential problems of medication" summary score on the SIMS. During the period of the study self reported physical function improved on the PDQ-39. No changes were found on the MARS. Conclusions: The results suggest improvements in patient satisfaction and potential effects on quality of life in terms of self-reported physical function, possibly as a result of the specialist pharmaceutical services. The data presented here could be used to suggest hypotheses for future studies and provide material for power and hence sample size calculations.