Pharmacists' perceptions of their professional role: insights into hospital pharmacy culture

Background:

Numerous studies have demonstrated the positive impacts of pharmacists on patient outcomes. To capitalize on these positive impacts, hospital pharmacy organizations around the world are now calling on pharmacists to shift their focus from distribution of medications to patient outcomes. This new emphasis is consistent with the vision statement for the profession of pharmacy in Canada, as set out in the Blueprint for Pharmacy: “Optimal drug therapy outcomes for Canadians through patient-centred care”. Given the ambitious nature of this statement and these goals, it is essential to understand what pharmacists currently think of their practice.

Objective:

To conduct a qualitative and semiquantitative analysis of hospital pharmacists’ perceptions of their role in patient care.

Methods:

A researcher posing as a University of Alberta student who was studying how health professionals use language to describe what they do contacted the pharmacy departments of all hospitals in Alberta. The “top-of-mind” approach was used in asking hospital pharmacists 2 questions: (1) How many years have you been practising pharmacy? (2) In 3 or 4 words (or phrases), from your perspective could you please tell me, “What does a pharmacist do”? These techniques were used to minimize the impact of social desirability bias. Content analysis was used to categorize hospital pharmacists’ responses into 4 broad categories: patient-centred, drug-focused, drug distribution, and ambiguous.

Results:

A total of 103 phone calls were made to hospital pharmacies, and 85 pharmacists contacted in this way were willing to participate in the survey. Hospital pharmacists provided 333 individual responses to the question about their activities. Of these, 79 (23.7%) were patient-centred, 98 (29.4%) were drug-focused, and 82 (24.6%) were in the drug-distribution category. Ambiguous responses accounted for the remaining 74 (22.2%).

Conclusion:

Aspects of care categorized as other than patient-centred should not be construed as unimportant. However, the fact that they were reported in this survey more frequently than patient-centred aspects suggests that hospital pharmacists in Alberta may have not fully embraced the concept of patient-centred care as outlined in the Blueprint for Pharmacy.     

Pedunculated parietal pleural lesion: a rare presentation of bronchogenic cyst

We present a 35-year-old man with a preoperative diagnosis of a right lower lobe cystic mass. Misled by a radiological suggestion of an intraparenchymal lesion, he had a thoracotomy and right lower lobectomy. An intraoperative finding of a pedunculated cyst arising from the parietal pleural with subsequent histopathology confirmation of a benign bronchogenic cyst, however, would have made a less invasive surgical excision more appropriate.     

Cromoglycate drugs suppress eicosanoid generation in U937 cells by promoting the release of Anx-A1

Using biochemical, epifluorescence and electron microscopic techniques in a U937 model system, we investigated the effect of anti-allergic drugs di-sodium cromoglycate and sodium nedocromil on the trafficking and release of the anti-inflammatory protein Annexin-A1 (Anx-A1) when this was triggered by glucocorticoid (GC) treatment. GCs alone produced a rapid (within 5 min) concentration-dependent activation of PKCα/β (Protein Kinase C; EC 2.7.11.13) and phosphorylation of Anx-A1 on Ser²⁷. Both phosphoproteins accumulated at the plasma membrane and Anx-A1 was subsequently externalised thereby inhibiting thromboxane (Tx) B₂ generation. When administered alone, cromoglycate or nedocromil had little effect on this pathway however, in the presence of a fixed sub-maximal concentration of GCs, increasing amounts of the cromoglycate-like drugs caused a striking concentration-dependent enhancement of Anx-A1 and PKCα/β phosphorylation, membrane recruitment and Anx-A1 release from cells resulting in greatly enhanced inhibition of TxB₂ generation. GCs also stimulated phosphatase accumulation at the plasma membrane of U937 cells. Both cromoglycate and nedocromil inhibited this enzymatic activity as well as that of a highly purified PP2A phosphatase preparation. We conclude that stimulation by the cromoglycate-like drugs of intracellular Anx-A1 trafficking and release (hence inhibition of eicosanoid release) is secondary to inhibition of a phosphatase PP2A (phosphoprotein phosphatase; EC 3.1.3.16), which probably forms part of a control loop to limit Anx-A1 release. These experiments provide a basis for a novel mechanism of action for the cromolyns, a group of drugs that have long puzzled investigators.     

Lens epithelial cell protection by aminothiol WR-1065 and anetholedithiolethione from ionizing radiation

Lens epithelium disorganization, glutathione (GSH) depletion, and epithelial cell death have been incriminated in the cytopathogenic mechanisms that lead to cataract formation following UVB and x-ray exposures. The objective of this study was to determine the in vitro capacity of the aminothiol WR-1065, the active metabolite of amifostine, and anetholedithiolethione (ADT or Sulfarlem®) to protect bovine lens epithelial cells against x-ray irradiation. WR-1065 and ADT were used at a concentration of 20 μM. A single dose of 10 Gy was delivered at a rate of 2 Gy/min. Fluorimetric assays were then performed using a neutral red probe to evaluate cell viability, a Hoechst 33342 probe (HO) to evaluate nuclear condensation and apoptosis, and a monobromobimane probe to estimate the intracellular GSH pool. Twenty-four hours after x-ray exposure, cells pretreated with WR-1065 showed increased GSH levels, improved cell viability, and decreased HO fluorescence in addition to a lesser proportion of cells with apoptotic nuclear modifications. Between 72 and 120 hr postirradiation, ADT-pretreated cells also showed increased intracellular GSH levels and cell viability and decreased HO fluorescence and apoptotic cell morphology. This in vitro study demonstrates that WR-1065 and ADT protects lens epithelial cells from x-ray injury; thus, ADT and amifostine are appropriate candidates for clinical trials in humans. They are currently used in preventing radiation-induced xerostomia and should be further tested in the prevention of late radiation-induced ocular complications such as sicca syndrome and cataract. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A specific approach for elderly patients with head and neck cancer

Approximately 10% of head and neck (HN) tumors occur in patients aged more than or equal to 80 years. In this population, the main challenge for physicians is to deal with the benefit/risk ratio of treatments and tumor-related symptoms. As elderly patients are generally excluded from clinical trials, there is a lack of evidence-based data with regard to the most appropriate multidisciplinary management. The prevalence of frailty and the pattern of comorbidities in this specific population are still unknown. The management of these tumors in a geriatric context is complex due to the high risk of toxicity of locoregional treatments. Thus, physicians often have to adapt to the treatment schedule to decrease potential adverse effects even with a risk of undertreatment. A retrospective series reported that the treatment delivered to elderly patients presenting with HN tumor complies with an institution's policy in less than 50% of cases, emphasizing the need to assess the outcome of personalized/adapted treatment in geriatric patients. The major issue is to determine which adaptation could be carried out, and then, what could be the respective individual benefit/risk ratio of each adaptation. In this review, we will focus on the locoregional management of elderly patients, and develop the issue of adapted local treatment. We will discuss the feasibility of adapted surgery and radiotherapy and provide current evidence-based data that may allow physicians involved in locoregional treatment of elderly patients with HN cancers to be acquainted with practical guidelines. Then, we will highlight the importance of nutritional support in this population in which the prevalence of malnutrition is high.     

Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of Gastrointestinal Cancer Caregivers: The Impact of Caregiving

Objective: This study examined the quality of life (QOL) of caregivers for gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients, andassociated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at three referral hospitals in Klang Valley, Malaysia.A total of 323 pairs of patients and caregivers from the oncology units of these hospitals completed questionnairesin Malay. The QOL of caregivers was measured using The Malay Caregiver Quality of Life questionnaire. Theindependent variables were caregiver and patient factors, care-related factors, the Caregiver Strain Index-Malay, andthe Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support-Malay. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses wereperformed to determine the factors associated with the QOL. Variables with p < 0.05 were considered significant in themultiple analyses. Results: Female caregivers were 68.1% of the total, and 46.4% caregivers were spouses to cancerpatients. Their mean age was 44.50 (13.29) years old. About 51.7% were of Malay ethnicity. The mean score for QOLwas 80.17 (21.58). Being a male caregiver (beta = 5.165, p = 0.011) and of Indian ethnicity (beta = -9.163, p = 0.001)were strongly associated with caregiver QOL. Male patients contributed higher QOL scores for the caregivers comparedto female patients. There was an inverse relationship among caregiving strain, duration of caregiving, and caregiverQOL. Conclusion: The identification of factors that affect QOL will allow healthcare providers to develop appropriateinterventions. It is important that caregivers be in good health so as not to compromise the care they provide to theirpatients.