Survey of Pharmacist Activities and Attitudes in Diabetes Management

Abstract

Background: With the epidemic of diabetes in our population, pharmacists must become more actively involved in the management of this chronic illness. This study was designed to examine the relationship between diabetes-specific training and pharmacists' activities in and attitudes toward diabetes management. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of licensed pharmacists in Alberta. Respondents were grouped according to diabetes-specific training: Certified Diabetes Educator, completion of one or more diabetes-specific continuing education courses or no diabetes-specific training. A list of 67 activities related to diabetes management was generated through a review of the literature describing activities related to pharmacist involvement in diabetes management, national guideline recommendations, indicators for best practice and discussions with pharmacists specializing in diabetes management. Survey respondents were asked how frequently they provided each of these activities. Attitudes were measured using the Diabetes Attitude Scale. Results: Certified Diabetes Educators reported conducting significantly more activities related to diabetes management, especially in the areas of patient education in self-monitoring of blood glucose, hypoglycemia management, sick-day management, diabetes drug therapy and management of comorbid diseases. Pharmacists who had completed diabetes-specific continuing education courses and pharmacists with no diabetes-specific training reported similar levels of activities. There was a significant and graded relationship between attitudes and diabetes-specific training. Conclusion: Pharmacists with more advanced, experiential-based training and national certification consistently reported providing more activities related to diabetes practice and generally held more positive attitudes toward the disease and its management, compared to other pharmacists.