This was the first study to evaluate the impact of credentialed pharmacist-led HMRs targeting TTs on health outcomes in people with COPD in primary care. Targeting TTs through HMRs resulted in clinically and statistically significant improvements in HRQoL, health status, smoking abstinence and adherence to treatment, while reducing anxiety and depression. This highlights a vital role for credentialed pharmacists in primary care alongside GPs, nurses, and other health professionals in the management of COPD. HMRs conducted in a structured collaborative manner can provide valuable support to the patients as well as their primary health professionals, particularly GPs.
Previous studies have suggested that pharmacist-led HMRs significantly improved health outcomes in people with chronic diseases in primary care [29–31]. A prospective study conducted among 412 community-dwelling older adults in China showed that HMRs were a practical means to optimise drug therapy (e.g., reduce drug-related problems [DRPs] and increase medication adherence) and improve patients’ HRQoL [30]. In an RCT conducted in Hobart, Australia, a 90-day follow-up by pharmacist for high-risk older people at home led to a decrease in DRPs and unplanned hospital readmissions [31]. Another RCT, conducted among 166 patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in Malaysia showed that at 6-months follow-up, HMRs significantly improved glycaemic control, medication adherence, QoL, and knowledge of T2DM, as well as reduced the number of DRPs and cost of medications wasted [29].
Emerging trials from tertiary care settings showed that pharmaceutical care has a positive impact on health outcomes in COPD. In an RCT involving 133 people with COPD in Jordan, structured education about COPD and symptom management delivered by clinical pharmacists significantly improved medication adherence, medication beliefs, patients’ COPD knowledge, and hospitalisation rates [4]. Another pharmaceutical care programme initiated in a an emergency department in Spain, showed positive clinical benefits due to the reduced number and prevalence of drug-related negative outcomes [32]. In a pre- and post-intervention study in Vietnam, over a period of 12 months, the proportions of COPD patients with optimal medication adherence significantly increased from 37.4–53.2% through pharmacist-led care [33]. Furthermore, it demonstrated that individualized pharmaceutical care also improved HRQoL, inhalation technique and reduced readmissions in patients with COPD [34, 35].
Clinical pharmacists play a crucial role in the healthcare team by offering recommendations and interventions related to medication-related issues, particularly in the management of chronic conditions such as COPD [36]. In the Australian primary healthcare system, where GP time constraints limit patient education and counselling [37], utilising credentialed pharmacist expertise in optimising medicine use and promoting consumer self-management seems to be an optimal strategy. Recent research [15, 32, 33, 35] has demonstrated the benefits of integrating pharmacists into COPD management, revealing improvements in patient understanding, addressing drug-related issues, enhancing disease control, and reducing treatment costs. This highlights the positive impact of pharmaceutical care in patients with COPD, with pharmacists playing a crucial role in early detection through case finding, comprehensive medication management planning, and providing guidance on medication use, inhaler techniques, and adherence [38]. Our findings suggest that credentialed pharmacists are well-suited to enhance COPD management in primary care settings using a TT approach.
The Australian COPD-X Guidelines [21] and an international pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) statement [39] recommend referral to PR for all COPD patients, irrespective of disease severity. Participation in Homebase PR has been shown to improve HRQoL in patients with moderate to severe COPD [22]. Notably, our study sample predominantly comprised individuals with mild COPD and low levels of activity limitation, often self-reporting low mMRC grades. This may suggest a potential lack of recognition for the necessity of PR intervention in this subgroup. Consequently, there is a need for further research specifically targeting individuals with mild COPD to explore the impact of PR on diverse health outcomes and TTs based on a multidimensional assessment.
While treatable traits interventions are shown to be effective in improving multiple outcomes, the majority of studies have been conducted in tertiary care [40]. In a systematic review and meta-analysis involving 11 studies that targeted at least one TT in every TT domain (Pulmonary, Extra-Pulmonary, Behavioral/Risk-factors) only one study was identified in a primary care setting, and this was negative [40]. These data highlight the potential for a multidisciplinary TT model of care in the primary care setting. Such an approach is currently being tested in a cluster RCT evaluating the efficacy of a practice nurse-coordinated intervention targeting treatable traits in moderate-severe COPD in primary care, compared with usual care (ACTRN12622000766718).
Our study has several strengths: To the best of our knowledge, it was the first study of credentialed pharmacist-led HMRs addressing TTs in people with COPD in primary care. These data were obtained from a pragmatic cluster-RCT, minimising selection bias, thus increasing the generalisability of the findings. We conducted a sensitivity analysis utilizing data exclusively from participants in the intervention group who did not undergo a pharmacist-conducted HMR, to ensure robustness of the primary analysis.
However, there were also some limitations: Only a pre-post comparison could be performed, and seasonal variations and time were not controlled. Data relating to exacerbations were not systematically captured in the RADICALS trial. Thus, we were unable to evaluate exacerbations as an important outcome of COPD. Being nested within the RADICALS trial, which was primarily designed to evaluate the efficacy of an interdisciplinary model of care for reducing the burden of smoking and COPD in Australian primary care settings before the TT concept emerged, traits were assessed retrospectively which was restricted by the information available from the trial data set. Thus not all behavioural traits reported in the COPD literature could be assessed.