A study conducted at Cochin Hospital, University of Paris, has demonstrated the positive impact of pharmacist consultations on patient knowledge and safety skills in individuals with chronic inflammatory arthritis undergoing treatment with biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARD).
This prospective study involved 99 patients with inflammatory arthritis who participated in structured pharmacist consultations. During these sessions, a self-administered BioSecure questionnaire was used to assess patients’ knowledge and safety skills related to bDMARD use, with possible scores ranging from 0 (worst) to 100 (optimal).
The questionnaire evaluated understanding across various domains, including medication administration, infection risk management and monitoring requirements. Follow-up assessments were conducted at three (M3), six (M6) and 12 months (M12) post-consultation to evaluate knowledge retention and identify factors associated with improved understanding.
Pharmacist consultation benefits
Results demonstrated a marked increase in BioSecure scores following the pharmacist intervention. The average score improved from 70.7 at baseline to 80.9 at M3, 83.1 at M6, and 82.5 at M12 (p<0.001).
The proportion of patients reaching a ‘good’ knowledge level (BioSecure score >84) rose from 23.8% at baseline to 57.1% at M3, with sustained improvement at later time points. The improvement in knowledge from the pharmacist consultation was sustained for at least 12 months.
Several patient factors were linked with better knowledge, including lower disease activity, as indicated by a Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 score of less than 7.5; family status; access to information from a community pharmacist; and having fewer comorbid conditions, as indicated by a lower Charlson Comorbidity Index score.
Despite the positive findings, the authors noted the absence of a control group limiting the definitive attribution of improvements solely to the pharmacist intervention.
Nevertheless, the findings underscore the value of pharmacist-led consultations in bridging patient knowledge gaps, fostering safer self-management behaviours and potentially improving adherence to bDMARD therapy.
Importantly, integrating hospital and community pharmacists was associated with stronger educational outcomes, suggesting a collaborative model may be particularly beneficial, the researchers concluded.
Last year, researchers found the initiation of biological and targeted synthetic DMARDs among patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis varied widely with age and ethnicity.
Reference
Bottois C et al. Impact of a clinical pharmacist consultation on enhancing knowledge and safety skill in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritis treated with bDMARDs. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2025 Jul;43(7):1218-1226.
