SEPTEMBER 2018—When it comes to treating urinary tract infection (UTIs) as efficiently as possible, it “just makes good clinical sense” to put community pharmacists in charge, says Dr. Ross Tsuyuki, Director of the Epidemiology Coordinating and Research Centre at the University of Alberta.
That’s why—with funding from the New Brunswick Pharmacists Association and CFP—he and his research team set out to track and quantify the impact of pharmacists managing patients with uncomplicated UTIs. Their study results did not disappoint.
Pharmacists’ treatment of UTIs resulted in a cure rate of 90%, and pharmacists chose the right antibiotic more than 95% of the time. “Here’s a situation where I felt using pharmacists was a no-brainer,” says Tsuyuki. “People are able to access pharmacists more quickly than they can their physicians and when it comes to UTIs, even an extra day of unpleasant symptoms isn’t good.”
The research team is now looking at antibiotic usage and conducting an economic analysis. The group is also developing an online practice tool that will help pharmacists document their work around UTI treatment and keep track of patients treated.
For more details on the study, check out CFP’s annual Changing Face of Pharmacy report, coming out in October.
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