Open Access Journal of Diabetes & Metabolism J o u r n a l o f D i a b e t e s & M e t a b o l i s m ISSN: 2155-6156 Shareef et al., J Diabetes Metab 2016, 7:3 DOI: 10.4172/2155-6156.1000654 Volume 7 • Issue 3 • 1000654 J Diabetes Metab ISSN: 2155-6156 JDM, an open access journal Research Article Abstract Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder leading to signifcant morbidity and mortality and negatively affects patient quality of life. Lifestyle modifcations and patient medication adherence are the most important factor that contributes to effective management. Objectives: To assess the impact of pharmacist delivered counseling on medication adherence and glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus. Method: It was a prospective, interventional study carried over a period of 12 months from October 2014 – September 2015 in general medicine outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. A total of 106 Patients who fulflled the study criteria were randomized into intervention group (55 patients) and usual care groups (51 patients) were completed the study. Patient information leafet and medication counseling was provided to intervention group by the clinical pharmacist. Adherence to the treatment has been assessed during a personal interview with each patient in both the groups by using Morisky Medication Adherence Scale at base line and fnal follow up. In a group of 30 patients in the intervention group glycosylated hemoglobin was recorded at baseline and fnal follow up. These adherence scores and glycemic levels (fasting plasma glucose and post prandial plasma glucose) were obtained and compared between both groups at the end of the study. Results: At the baseline, there was no signifcant difference in medication adherence scores and glycemic levels between the usual care and intervention groups (p>0.005). However, statistically signifcant differences in glycemic levels (fasting plasma glucose and post prandial plasma glucose ) and medication adherence scores was observed in the fnal follow up in intervention group as compared to the usual care group (p<0.005). Conclusion: The study suggests that clinical pharmacist intervention through patient education and medication counseling made a signifcant infuence for improvement in medication adherence and glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus. Evaluating the Effect of Pharmacist’s Delivered Counseling on Medication Adherence and Glycemic Control in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Javedh Shareef 1 *, Jennifer Fernandes 1 , Laxminarayana Samaga 2 and Bhat ML 2 1 Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Paneer, Mangalore, Karnataka, India 2 Department of General Medicine, KS Hegde Medical Academy and Hospital, Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author: Dr. Javedh Shareef, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, NGSM Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Paneer, Mangalore, Karnataka, India, Tel: +918722486192; E-mail: javedh.shareef@gmail.com Received February 07, 2016; Accepted March 07, 2016; Published March 12, 2016 Citation: Shareef J, Fernandes J, Samaga L, Bhat ML (2016) Evaluating the Effect of Pharmacist’s Delivered Counseling on Medication Adherence and Glycemic Control in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus. J Diabetes Metab 7: 654. doi:10.4172/2155-6156.1000654 Copyright: © 2016 Shareef J, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Medication adherence; Diabetes mellitus; Patient counseling; Glycemic control; Clinical pharmacist Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a lifelong chronic disease requiring continuous medical care and signifcant efort by the individuals regarding self- care practices for its prevention. Globally, the number of patients with diabetes mellitus has risen sharply world-wide [1]. Te sedentary life style as well as ageing of our population is found to be the major causative factors for the diabetes mellitus. Poor glycemic control in the long term leads to several health complications with increased hospitalization, morbidity and mortality [1]. Lifestyle modifcations and medication adherence are the most important factors that contribute in the efective management of diabetes mellitus [2]. Researchers have found a signifcant association between medication adherence and optimal glycemic control. Studies have shown that growing age, memory impairment, social deprivation, co-morbidities and complex treatment regimen might present hurdles in adhering to drug therapy [2-4]. Medication adherence is defned as the extent to which patients take medications as prescribed by their healthcare providers. Patient education about the disease and medication counseling has been regarded as the efective method to improve adherence to the therapy. Educational interventions involving patient and family members and enhancing communication between the physician and patient is a key and efective strategy in boosting the patient’s ability to follow a prescribed medication regimen [5]. Multidisciplinary approaches can support adherence success and enable a more efective management of diabetes care. One approach in diabetes care is the involvement of pharmacist as a member of healthcare team which has been shown to improve patient outcomes in various healthcare settings across the world. Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to educate patients and can improve the adherence by counseling the patient regarding the knowledge about disease and the need of appropriate medical therapy by providing information leafets and medication alert cards which help to minimize medication non-adherence [6]. Hence the present study aims to assess the impact of pharmacist counseling on medication adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.