A systematic review of pharmacists' interventions to support medicines optimisation in patients with visual...

Background People with visual impairment often report poorer health and encounter many challenges when using medicines. Pharmacists can play a significant role in optimising medicines use for these patients. However, little is known about pharmacists' current practices when providing services to this population nor the impact of such services, if any, on medicines optimisation-related outcomes. Aim of the review This systematic review aims to identify the types, and assess the effectiveness of, interventions provided by pharmacists on medicines optimisation-related outcomes. Method Systematic searches of the following electronic databases were carried out from date of inception to March 2018: Cochrane Library; MEDLINE; EMBASE; International Pharmaceutical Abstracts; Scopus; and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Several trial registries and grey literature resources were also searched. Any randomised controlled trials, non-randomised controlled trials, controlled before-and-after studies, or interrupted time series analyses reporting on interventions provided by pharmacists to adult visually impaired patients and/or their caregivers in order to improve medicines optimisation-related outcomes of medicine safety, adherence, patient satisfaction, shared decision making, or quality of life were included. Results A total of 1877 titles/abstracts were screened, and 27 full text articles were assessed for eligibility. On examination of full texts, no studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Conclusion This review highlights the need for future research that would be vital for promoting the safe and effective use of medicines and the delivery of pharmaceutical care services to people with visual impairment.