RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Assessment of the effectiveness of a pharmacist approach for improving disease-specific knowledge and treatment in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease JF European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy JO Eur J Hosp Pharm FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP e97 OP e101 DO 10.1136/ejhpharm-2020-002417 VO 28 IS e1 A1 Sajith, Manjusha A1 Bargaje, Medha Deepak A1 Gharat, Smruti A1 Mathew, Joelin A1 Varghese, Amruta YR 2021 UL http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/28/e1/e97.abstract AB Objective Adequate knowledge is essential for the appropriate management of chronic conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, some patients may not be able either to comprehend or obtain adequate information. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the clinical pharmacist approach to refining disease-specific knowledge in patients with COPD treated in a tertiary care hospital.Methods A prospective observational longitudinal study was carried out in adult COPD patients for 9 months in the tertiary care hospital of Pune. At the time of enrolment, disease-specific knowledge of patients with COPD was assessed using the Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ). After the assessment, patients were educated, counselled verbally and provided with a validated COPD information leaflet. The patients’ knowledge was reassessed 1 month and 3 months after enrolment. Pre and post scores of BCKQ were compared by ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. The difference in the proportions was calculated using the χ2 test.Results Of 75 patients, the majority were men (53.33%), aged >60 years (72%), employed (62.67%) and had obtained secondary education (37.33%). The mean baseline BCKQ overall score of the patients was 25.87, which increased after education to 42.43 on the first visit (1 month) and to 45.62 on the second visit (3 months) (p<0.0001). At baseline, the topics 'vaccination', 'inhaled steroids' and 'antibiotics' returned the lowest mean scores of 0.37, 0.38 and 0.60, which were increased to 2.30, 2.70 and 2.72, respectively, after follow-up.Conclusion The knowledge of patients with COPD about the disease and its treatment was poor at the time of enrolment. Proper counselling and education provided by the clinical pharmacist helped to improve the patients' knowledge about COPD and its treatment.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Data are available upon reasonable request.