The impact of clinical pharmacists' consultations on geriatric patients' compliance and medical care use: A randomized controlled trial.

Assessed the impact of clinical pharmacists' consultations on drug regimens, compliance, and health service use of 706 geriatric hospitalized patients (aged 65+ yrs) discharged on 3 or more medications. Pharmacists consulted with experimental patients at discharge and 3 mo thereafter, and with physicians as needed. Controls received usual care. At 6–8 wks after enrollment, experimental patients were more knowledgeable about regimens than controls were. At 12–24 wks, experimental patients were on fewer medications and less complex regimens, and had better compliance scores than controls did. There was no effect on service use or charges, perhaps due to inadequate sample size and lack of targeted drug groups analysis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)