The important role of pharmacists for older adults' health

Pharmacists play an important role in managing medication-based therapies for older community-dwelling patients, according to a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

In the study of patients aged 65 years and older who came to a pharmacist-led outpatient clinic at a general hospital in Beijing, China between 2016 and 2018, pharmacists were helpful not only for identifying and solving drug-related problems, but also for improving measures such as blood pressure and cholesterol, and for reducing the cost of medications for patients.

"To the best of our knowledge, this study was the first to evaluate the outcomes of pharmacist-led medication therapy management services in ambulatory elderly patients in mainland China," the authors wrote.