THE ROLE OF PHARMACISTS IN EVALUATING AND INTERVENING THE PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC NEUROPATHY

Abstract

Diabetic neuropathies is the presence of and/or signs of peripheral nerve dysfunctions in people with diabetes after the exclusion of other causes. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for diabetic peripheral neuropathy, to evaluate the score of neuropathy, and also to determine the effect of pharmacist intervention towards diabetic neuropathy patients at Gatot Soebroto Hospital Jakarta in 2013. Data about socio-demographic characters, age, duration of diabetic, blood glucose, blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, lifestyle BMI and smoking were collected. Pharmacist intervention was given to increase patient information about diabetic neuropathy and its risks factors. There were 59 respondents involved in this study. It can be found that 15.3% respondents had mild diabetic peripheral neuropathy, 1.7% had moderate diabetic peripheral neuropathy, 1.7% had severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and as much as 81,4% respondents had no neuropathy. There was a correlation (but not statistically significant) between diabetic peripheral neuropathy and its' risks factors such as ages, duration of diabetes, sex, cardiovascular disease (hypertension, cardiac disease)and lifestyle(smoking habit and body mass index). Pharmacist intervention showed an increase on the patients knowledge about diabetic neuropathy and also a significant decrease on the patient's blood glucose level (P˂0,05).Keywords : diabetic neuropathy, pharmacist role, prevalence, score, risk factors, blood glucose.