The effect of Pharmacist-led Education and Metabolic Syndrome Screening (EMESYS) on the Clinical Outcome, Adherence, and Quality of Life in Patient with Schizophrenia

Individuals with schizophrenia who take atypical antipsychotic agents have often suffered from metabolic syndrome (MetS). Weight gain is the earliest symptom of metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia patient treated with atypical antipsychotic. Weight gain and obesity lead to increased cardiovascular disease, poor quality of life, and treatment non-adherence. The likelihood of MetS necessitates a routine metabolic screening, monitoring, education of lifestyle and multi-disciplinary collaboration. Incorporating pharmacist has been evident to improve this process outcome. Therefore, this study evaluated the outcome of pharmacist intervention under the Education and Metabolic Syndrome Screening (EMESYS) program. This prospective, 3-month, pretest-posttest study recruited 46 patients taking atypical antipsychotics from a mental health hospital in Surabaya Indonesia. Data about medication adherence, lifestyle parameters, metabolic syndrome parameters, risk of cardiovascular diseases and quality of life were collected. No significant improvement was found in metabolic syndrome and quality of life (p>0.05). However, statistical differences were found in the medication adherence and several parameters of lifestyle improvement such physical activities, alcohol intake, healthy diet, obesity and risk of cardiovascular diseases (p<0.05). Pharmacist involvement can be valuable to better control lifestyle parameters, improve medication adherence and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. These are fundamentals in the comprehensive care of patients with schizophrenia.