Study of an Intervention to Improve Use of Life-saving Medications for Heart Disease

NCT ID: NCT00323258

Last Updated: 2013-01-18

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

143 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2006-06-30

Study Completion Date

2011-03-31

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a program to help patients with heart disease stay on their heart medications.

Detailed Description

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. For patients with documented coronary artery disease (CAD), anti-platelet agents, beta-blockers and statins have all been shown to improve survival and reduce the frequency of myocardial infarction. Yet, previous research by the Duke CERTs has shown that in a population of over 28,000 patients with documented CAD, only 21% reported consistent use of triple therapy with aspirin, beta-blockers and lipid lowering therapy. These results stimulated the Duke CERTs to devise an intervention to improve adherence to these life-saving medications.

Comparisons: Patients admitted to Duke University Hospital or Southeastern Regional Medical Center (SRMC) with CAD or CAD plus heart failure who agree to participate, will be randomized to an intervention or control arm. The control group will receive usual care, which consists of routine discharge counseling performed by the patient-care nurse and a letter/discharge summary from the Duke physician to the community physician. In addition to usual care, the intervention group will receive focused medication counseling in the hospital by the clinical pharmacist-investigator, who will identify and address potential barriers to medication adherence and will reinforce the importance of taking evidence-based medications long term. Discharge medications will be shared with the community pharmacist. The community pharmacist will monitor for problems with adherence and communicate issues back to the patient and the patient's care team.

Conditions

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Cardiovascular Disease

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Intervention

Patients enrolled in the intervention arm received inpatient education on the importance of medication and assessment of barriers to adherence. A pill box, pocket medication card, and tips for remembering to take medications were provided. The community pharmacist was notified of the subject's enrollment. The community pharmacist was asked to reinforce importance of evidence-based medications and assess the subject's medication adherence every 6 weeks for 6 months. If a problem was noted, the subject's health care team will be notified.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

oral education & written tips for remembering medications

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Clinical pharmacist will review purpose of medications of interest (beta-blockers, statins, Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (ACEI)/Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB), aspirin, and other anti-platelets) with the subject. A written list of tips for remembering medications will be provided and reviewed.

pill box

Intervention Type DEVICE

Subject is provided a pill box and briefly instructed on how to use the box.

pocket medication card

Intervention Type DEVICE

Subject is provided with a card that contains space for prescription and non-prescription medications. If desired the clinical pharmacist-investigator will complete the card for the subject.

sharing information with community pharmacist

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A fax is sent to the designated community pharmacy at the time of the subject's discharge from the hospital. The fax contains the subject's medications of interest, barriers to medication adherence, and physicians' contact information.

Medication use evaluations by community pharmacist

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The community pharmacist will assess use of medications of interest at time of first medication fill and by reviewing the subject's computerized medication profile at the pharmacy. Assessments occur at first visit to pharmacy, 6-weeks, 12-weeks, 18-weeks, and 24-weeks. If there are issues with any medications of interest the subject will be called. If needed, the subject's health care team will be notified.

informing physician if patient has stopped a medication

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The community pharmacist or clinical pharmacist-investigator will fax the subject's physician to notify that a medication has been stopped.

Routine discharge counseling

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Both groups received routine discharge counseling performed by the patient-care nurse.

Letter to physician/discharge summary

Intervention Type OTHER

A letter/discharge summary from the hospital physician to the community physician listing the discharge medications, procedures, and recommendations.

Usual Care

The usual care group received routine discharge counseling performed by the patient-care nurse and a letter/discharge summary from the hospital physician to the community physician listing the discharge medications, procedures, and recommendations. Enrolled patients in the usual care arm were not disclosed to the community pharmacy until the end of the study period when refill records were requested.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Routine discharge counseling

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Both groups received routine discharge counseling performed by the patient-care nurse.

Letter to physician/discharge summary

Intervention Type OTHER

A letter/discharge summary from the hospital physician to the community physician listing the discharge medications, procedures, and recommendations.

Interventions

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oral education & written tips for remembering medications

Clinical pharmacist will review purpose of medications of interest (beta-blockers, statins, Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (ACEI)/Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB), aspirin, and other anti-platelets) with the subject. A written list of tips for remembering medications will be provided and reviewed.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

pill box

Subject is provided a pill box and briefly instructed on how to use the box.

Intervention Type DEVICE

pocket medication card

Subject is provided with a card that contains space for prescription and non-prescription medications. If desired the clinical pharmacist-investigator will complete the card for the subject.

Intervention Type DEVICE

sharing information with community pharmacist

A fax is sent to the designated community pharmacy at the time of the subject's discharge from the hospital. The fax contains the subject's medications of interest, barriers to medication adherence, and physicians' contact information.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Medication use evaluations by community pharmacist

The community pharmacist will assess use of medications of interest at time of first medication fill and by reviewing the subject's computerized medication profile at the pharmacy. Assessments occur at first visit to pharmacy, 6-weeks, 12-weeks, 18-weeks, and 24-weeks. If there are issues with any medications of interest the subject will be called. If needed, the subject's health care team will be notified.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

informing physician if patient has stopped a medication

The community pharmacist or clinical pharmacist-investigator will fax the subject's physician to notify that a medication has been stopped.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Routine discharge counseling

Both groups received routine discharge counseling performed by the patient-care nurse.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Letter to physician/discharge summary

A letter/discharge summary from the hospital physician to the community physician listing the discharge medications, procedures, and recommendations.

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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Cue-dose training Pill box organizer pillbox Medication List List of Medications increased communication with community pharmacist medcation adherence verification Communication with physician about patient's medication use Discharge instructions Communication to physician about hospital course.

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* 18 years of age or older
* Utilize a pharmacy in Durham, Robeson, Person, Granville, or Vance County, NC
* Have coronary artery disease (CAD) documented in the medical record by one of the following:

1. A diagnosis of unstable angina or acute myocardial infarction (ST segment elevation or non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction)
2. A cardiac catheterization demonstrating CAD greater than or equal to 50 narrowing of artery)
3. Prior angioplasty
4. Prior coronary artery stent
5. Prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG)
* Plan to have their prescription medications filled and refilled by one of the participating pharmacies
* Prescribed aspirin or another antiplatelet, a beta-blocker and statin agent (referred to as triple therapy for this study) at discharge. If a patient has a true contraindication to any of the three medication groups in triple therapy, they will still be eligible for the study

Exclusion Criteria

* Providers predict an anticipated hospital stay of less than 48 hours
* Patient plans to use a pharmacy outside of Durham, Robeson, Person, Granville, or Vance County, NC
* Patient is unable to give consent (cognitively impaired, does not speak English, or has altered mental status)
* Patient transferred to Cardiothoracic Surgery service for CABG
* Patient has terminal condition and may not survive until 6-month follow-up
* Patient lives in a correctional or long-term care facility
* Patient will be unable to participate in follow-up phone call (hearing impaired without caregiver who can help or does not have a phone)
* Patient is a known participant in the Duke Heart Failure Program
* Patient does not agree to use only the one Durham, Robeson, Person, Granville, or Vance County pharmacy throughout the study period
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Pfizer

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

FED

Sponsor Role collaborator

Duke University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Judith M. Kramer, MD,MS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Duke University

Nancy Allen LaPointe, PharmD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Duke University

Locations

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Duke University Medical Center

Durham, North Carolina, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Newby LK, LaPointe NM, Chen AY, Kramer JM, Hammill BG, DeLong ER, Muhlbaier LH, Califf RM. Long-term adherence to evidence-based secondary prevention therapies in coronary artery disease. Circulation. 2006 Jan 17;113(2):203-12. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.505636. Epub 2006 Jan 9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16401776 (View on PubMed)

Calvert SB, Kramer JM, Anstrom KJ, Kaltenbach LA, Stafford JA, Allen LaPointe NM. Patient-focused intervention to improve long-term adherence to evidence-based medications: a randomized trial. Am Heart J. 2012 Apr;163(4):657-65.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2012.01.019.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 22520532 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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U18HS010548

Identifier Type: AHRQ

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

Pro00005018

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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