Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41263936›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Development and evaluation of a telepharmacy service in primary care for home-living older adults in Northern Sweden's rural areas: protocol for a single-arm interventional study.

Annica Westberg, Pernilla Andersson, Eva Sönnerstam, Sofia Mattsson, Åsa Holmner, Anette Edin-Liljegren, Maria Gustafsson

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05629936 (Improving Medication Therapy and Patient Involvement Through a Digital Interdisciplinary Model Among Old People in Primary Care Living in Sparsely Populated Regions in Sweden), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05629936 naenrolling by invitationnot on this map

Improving Medication Therapy and Patient Involvement Through a Digital Interdisciplinary Model Among Old People in Primary Care Living in Sparsely Populated Regions in Sweden

TypeinterventionalSponsorUmeå UniversityRan2023 to 2028Enrolled100ConditionsMedication-related Problems, Self-reported Medication Adherence, Health-related Quality of Life, Beliefs About MedicinesArmsTelepharmacy service
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Annica WestbergDepartment of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden annica.westberg@umu.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4450-5185
Pernilla AnderssonDepartment of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden.
Eva SönnerstamDepartment of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6744-8553
Sofia MattssonDepartment of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0009-2942-5444
Åsa HolmnerDepartment of Diagnostics and Intervention, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6367-3937
Anette Edin-LiljegrenThe Centre for Rural Health, Region Västerbotten, Storuman, Västerbotten County, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3220-9557
Maria GustafssonDepartment of Medical and Translational Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3615-4880

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMedication-related problems (MRPs) are common among older adults. The global population is ageing and there are health-related challenges linked to ageing in rural areas. Home-living rural older adults often face barriers to access healthcare, like long distances to healthcare services and poor continuity of care. Telepharmacy is the remote provision of pharmaceutical care, and telepharmacy could be of particular importance for rural older adults to improve their access to clinical pharmacy services and reduce the incidence of MRPs. The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a novel telepharmacy service in primary care for home-living older adults in Northern Sweden's rural areas. The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of the telepharmacy service regarding the identification, classification and resolution of MRPs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study will be conducted as a single-arm interventional study. A total of 100 people ≥65 years will receive the telepharmacy service for 12 weeks. The key principles of the telepharmacy service are to perform medication interviews and follow-up meetings with study participants, to conduct structured medication reviews, to conduct regular electronic medical record reviews and to have interprofessional collaboration with primary care physicians. All meetings will be conducted through video conferencing via a secure virtual care platform. Identified MRPs will be classified, and the acceptance rate of the pharmacists' recommendations will be evaluated. The results will be presented with descriptive statistics. As secondary objectives, intra-individual changes in participants' medication adherence, health-related quality of life and beliefs about medicines will be assessed through self-report questionnaires. Statistical analysis will be conducted using two-sided McNemar's tests. Semi-structured interviews will also be conducted to explore participants' and healthcare professionals' experiences and attitudes towards this telepharmacy service. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been granted ethical approval by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (registration number 2022-03819-01 and 2024-08441-02). Participant informed consent is required. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05629936.

Indexed as

Pharmaceutical ServicesPrimary Health CareTelemedicineAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleRural PopulationSwedenAgedMedication ReviewPharmacistsPrimary Health CareTelemedicine

Identifiers

PMID41263936
PMCPMC12636900

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.