Effect of Providing Pharmaceutical Care Services Using Line Application on Detecting Drug Related Problems for Diabetic Patients at Sungnoen Hospital Nakhonratchasima

Abstract

Objective: To study the effects of providing pharmaceutical care using the LINE application (intervention) compared with standard care in diabetic patients. The before-after comparisons between the identification of drug-related problems and blood sugar levels, including fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were studied. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study using purposive sampling, with a sample group of 24 patients who received services at the chronic non-communicable disease clinic at Sungnoen Hospital, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, from June 2023 to January 2024. Results: Before the study, 43 drug-related problems were identified (from 24 volunteers), and after the study, the number of problems decreased to 5 (from 5 volunteers). The number of patients with drug-related issues decreased significantly (p < 0.001) during follow-up using the LINE application. An additional 40 drug-related problems were identified, bringing the total number of drug-related problems found in this study to 88, with 83 problems resolved. Clinical outcomes showed that the FPG values before and after the study were 159.50±55.84 and 135.79±33.57, and the HbA1c values before and after the study were 8.47±1.70 and 7.87±1.03, respectively. Both blood sugar levels tended to decrease, although there was no statistically significant difference (p=0.07 and 0.12, respectively). Conclusion: The research shows that providing pharmaceutical care using the LINE application helps to increase the identification and resolution of drug-related problems and enables real-time medication management.