B. DeeAnn Dugan, Roger D. Lander, Jessica Skelley, Bryn Manzella<\/p>\n
ABSTRACT Objectives:<\/span><\/b> Diabetes affects 29.1 million Americans. The relationship between poor health literacy, lower socioeconomic status, the psychosocial barriers related to diabetes is well established. <\/sup>With the association between glycemic control and diabetes complications, the importance of patient education\/management to improve self-efficacy and glucose control is compelling. Several studies have demonstrated the impact of pharmacist-led diabetes education\/management services in self-insured employer groups; however little has been published with patients facing access, income, and health literacy challenges. Study objective: To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-led diabetes clinic in a public health department population. Methods:<\/span><\/b> Public health department patients with diabetes and hemoglobin A1c (A1C) \u00e2\u2030\u00a5 9% were identified by electronic medical record query or referral. Intervention group patients were enrolled in the pharmacist-led diabetes clinic while patients of other health centers were managed by usual care. Primary endpoint was change in A1C from baseline to study end for the intervention group.\u00a0 Results:<\/span><\/b> Ninety-four patients, primarily African American women age of 49.5 years, were included in the study.\u00a0 There were no significant differences between the groups regarding baseline characteristics; although the intervention group had a higher A1C at baseline (11.3% vs 10.8%) than the usual care group.\u00a0 At the end of the study, the intervention group had an A1C reduction of 2% (p< 0.0002) whereas the usual care group achieved a 0.8% (p= 0.16) reduction over the same time period.\u00a0 Conclusions:<\/span><\/b> A pharmacist-led diabetes service is effective in enabling public health department patients to significantly reduce their average blood glucose level.\u00a0