Background: Depression is a significant source of morbidity but often goes undiagnosed. Broader screening is recommended, and pharmacists could contribute.
Objectives: Assess the feasibility of community pharmacy depression and anxiety screening and describe the medication-related problems (MRP) identified, pharmacist interventions, and provider responses for high-risk patients.
Methods: This pilot was conducted between October 2022 and January 2023 at an independently owned community pharmacy in the Midwest U.S. Patients aged 18-45 with ready prescriptions were identified through weekly reports and tags were placed on prescription bags. A convenience sample of patients fluent in English were offered the the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ2) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD2), with follow-up PHQ9 and GAD7 for at-risk individuals. High-risk individuals met with the pharmacist for consultation and recommendations were discussed. Descriptive statistics were calculated for participant demographics, questionnaire responses, MRPs, and provider responses. Patient profiles were examined 2 months after the workup to identify medication changes.
Results: A total of 29 patients volunteered to be screened for anxiety and depression, of these, 41% scored in the high-risk category for depression and/or anxiety and met with the pharmacist for the consultation. The pharmacist identified multiple MRPs. The most common was the need for additional therapy and inadequate dosages. Patients were reluctant for the pharmacist to follow up with their prescriber and were unreachable for telephone follow-up. Profiles reviewed two months post-assessment showed half of the at-risk patients had one or more mental health medication changes.
Conclusion: Community pharmacists may have a role in the screening and management of patient mental health, although there were challenges with screening uptake and follow-up. The pharmacist identified multiple MRPs for this high-risk group for which greater routine monitoring and follow-up may be beneficial. More work appears needed to engage both patients and prescribers.
Keywords: Depression; anxiety; community pharmacist; mental health; screening.
Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.