Three Defining the Future research grant recipients presented posters at the AAPP 2023 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia! Members of the AAPP Foundation Board of Directors visited grant recipient posters and heard a brief presentation about the project and results. Summaries for each project are included below, and posters can be viewed by clicking each project title link. Congratulations to each grant recipient for successful projects!
Nisha Bhavsar, PharmD, PGY-2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Resident, USC School of Pharmacy: “The Relationship Between Opioid Overdose Death Rates and Buprenorphine Distribution to Retail Pharmacies in California in 2021 ”
The study was a retrospective analysis of data from the California Department of Public Health compared to retail drug summary reports. The study's primary objectives were to analyze whether an association exists between opioid overdose death rates and buprenorphine distributed per zip code in California and to describe the demographic data regarding opioid-related deaths in California.
In 2021, there were 7599 opioid-related deaths in California. The study found a significant association between buprenorphine dispensing and opioid-related death, but the significance was lost after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Certain demographic variables were associated with increased incidence of opioid-related death including male sex, white and non-Latino race, and lower socioeconomic status. Areas of high opioid-related death rates were found to have proportionally more buprenorphine dispensed.
Trisha McHugh, PharmD, PGY-2 Psychiatry Resident, Eskenazi Health: “Gender Health Client Perceptions of Clinical Psychiatric Pharmacist Interactions: A Convergent Parallel Mixed Method Study ”
Gender diverse people commonly encounter barriers in obtaining adequate health care. This population is more likely to die by suicide compared to their non-gender diverse counterparts. The involvement of a psychiatric pharmacist maybe able to change this outcome. The intent of this study was to evaluate the patient perspectives of a clinical psychiatric pharmacist in gender healthcare.
Patients who were gender diverse were engaged in one-on-one interviews and completed a survey about their interaction with the psychiatric pharmacists. The qualitative and quantitative data support the conclusion by the majority of the participants that the pharmacist provided benefits to the patients. The psychiatric pharmacists provided excellent care in the management of this population.
Matthew Nuebel, PharmD, PGY1 Resident, Providence St. Patrick Hospital: “Evaluation of Major Adverse Events and Drug Discontinuation of Clozapine Based on Accordance to an International Adult Titration Guideline”
This project compared clozapine doses and dose titrations in an inpatient adult population (N=43) with guideline-recommended dosing.1 The weekly cumulative clozapine dose for each patient was compared to the guideline-recommended dose, creating a percent accordance. Fourteen patients experienced adverse drug reactions (ADRs), such as myocarditis or severe sedation. The likelihood of an ADR was found to be inversely related to cumulative dose percent accordance, possibly due to patients deemed likely to experience an ADR receiving smaller clozapine doses. Guideline-recommended laboratory monitoring was low, including clozapine level monitoring and c-reactive protein (CRP) monitoring. The results suggest that future studies with longer durations could more closely analyze clozapine dose titration. This study highlights the important role pharmacists have in using biomarkers (e.g., CRP) to enhance patient safety while taking clozapine.