Research on the effects of pharmacist-patient communication in institutions and ambulatory care sites, 1969-1994

Research on the effects of pharmacist-patient communication that appeared in the pharmacy literature between 1969 and 1994 is reviewed. The terms patient education and patient counseling were used in identifying relevant research. Many authors used these terms interchangeably; also, the terms counseling and consultation often were not clearly defined. Studies of pharmacists' history-taking in institutional settings and of other communication with patients in ambulatory care settings were examined by decade. The research questions, theories, methods, results, and limitations were analyzed. More than 30 studies examined the effect of pharmacists' communication on patient outcomes, primarily knowledge and medication compliance; generally, the results suggested that pharmacists' communication led to increased knowledge and compliance. A few researchers raised concerns about patients' knowledge as an indicator of effective communication by pharmacists, and in the 1980s a few suggested that better medication compliance could be associated with the time and attention given to patients rather than the informational content of the interaction. Little was reported about the communication theories or models on which the studies were based, and there was little indication in most studies that patients' ideas about their therapy were considered. Often, the numbers of patients and pharmacists were small, and the pharmacists may have had training or motivation exceeding that of the average practitioner. In studies of pharmacists' versus physicians' history-taking, the physicians were not well described; their involvement and their approach may not have been comparable to those of the pharmacists. Before 1990, a few researchers had examined outcomes such as pulmonary function and control of diabetes. In the 1990s, more researchers looked at outcomes such as medication-related problems and use of health care resources. The research indicated that pharmacists can increase patients' knowledge of and compliance with their pharmacotherapy; however, additional research on other outcomes may be warranted.