Abstract

SIGNIFICANCE OF PATIENT COUNSELING IN DIABETES MELLITUS; A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Y. Hrushikesh Reddy*, D. Ashok Kumar, Mallesh M, M. Purushothaman

ABSTRACT

To assess the impact of pharmacist providing patient counseling in bringing therapeutic outcomes and Quality of life (QOL) improvement in Type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients. A prospective observational study was conducted for a period of 10 months from July 2014 to April 2015 at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), a tertiary care teaching hospital, Kadapa. A total of 125 patients with Type II DM were assigned into 3 groups. They were received basic diabetic counselling (regarding disease, medication & life style modifications) for 3 months at each visit. RBS, FBS, PPBS, TC, TG, HDL, LDL & the effects of mono, double & triple combination therapies were measured at baseline & at the end of the study. QOL was assessed by the using the KAP questionnaire and SF 12. Significant reductions were found in FBS (228 ± 10.5 to 140 ± 5.6), RBS (350 ± 25.5 to 203 ± 10.6), PPBS (250 ± 20.5 to 143 ± 10.3) & also greater reductions were observed in TC, TG, HDL, LDL levels in all the groups after the counseling. Dramatic improvement in patient’s QOL was found. The study concluded that chronic diseases like DM affect the QOL of patients so the pharmacist providing patient counseling has a major impact in improving the health care outcomes like glycemic control & QOL.

Keywords: Type-II Diabetes Mellitus, Patient counseling, Quality of life.