Impact of a clinical pharmacist’s intervention on pneumococcal vaccination in a population of at- risk hospitalized patients: The IP-VAC study

Abstract

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacist intervention on compliance with pneumococcal vaccination (PV) recommendations in hospitalized patients. MethodsThis was a prospective, single-center, before-and-after study conducted in 2019–2020. Patients had to be over 18 years of age, at risk of pneumococcal infection, and with no PV. No changes were made in the observational phase. During the interventional phase, the clinical pharmacist discussed a prescription for preventive PV and a mention in the discharge letter. A pharmaceutical consultation sensitized the patient to the interest of PV. The clinical pharmacist ensured that a complete vaccination protocol would be carried out by the retail pharmacist within 3 months of hospitalization. ResultsOne hundred and sixty-seven (167) patients were included. In the observational phase, 2.3% of patients received a complete vaccination protocol after discharge from primary care. The rate increased to 63.8% after the clinical pharmacist’s intervention (p < 0.001). Vaccines were prescribed by hospital physicians in 97.5% of cases, while 40% of discharge letters included the indication for PV. ConclusionThe clinical pharmacist’s intervention led to delivery of a complete PV protocol after discharge for over half the patients. This study demonstrated the feasibility of a pharmaceutical intervention to promote PV in hospital activities.