8%) patients received more than one intervention. The proportion of the 183 LBP patients who received each intervention first were: magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) (36.6%), corticosteroid injection (32.8%), acupuncture (24.0%) and TENS (6.6%); the 57 OA patients were: acupuncture (45.6%), MRI (21.1%), injection (21.1%) and TENS (12.2%). After follow-up, patients remained either in the service, or discharged due to adequate learn more pain control or not attending their appointment. The mean in-service time was not significantly different between 305 LBP (211.3 ± 89.4 days) and 88 OA (223.7 ± 286.0 days) discharged patients. Eight of the 312 LBP (2.6%) and one of the 88 OA patients (1.1%) were re-referred. The utilisation of treatment strategies CX-5461 concentration was different between LBP and OA patients but the mean in-service time was similar at around 8 months. LBP patients often need investigation as the first intervention and similar proportions of patients received MRI, injection and acupuncture but fewer received TENS, which is
not recommended in NICE guidance for LBP management. Most OA patients received acupuncture but this is not recommended in NICE guidance for OA. Instead TENS is recommended as a self-management treatment. The data collected was reflective of the local population but the study was limited the by the lack of outcomes data recorded, therefore clinical effectiveness of the strategies used could not be determined. 1. Gill J, Taylor D, Knaggs Methocarbamol R. (2012) Persistent
Pain: Improving Health Outcomes. UCL School of Pharmacy: London 2. Dr Foster Intelligence, British Pain Society, Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (2012) National Pain Audit Final Report. National Pain Audit. URL http://www.nationalpainaudit.org/media/files/NationalPainAudit-2012.pdf (accessed 25/04/13) Andrea Manfrin1, Janet Krska1, Laura Caparrotta1,2 1Medway School of Pharmacy University of Kent, Kent, UK, 2Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Padua, Italy A pilot study in Italy involving 80 community pharmacists found they were able to deliver MURs following training An enhanced MUR template made available via a web platform was very well completed, enabling collection of useful data for evaluation Feedback of the data gathered was available to pharmacy organisations in real time and showed potential benefit of the MUR for patients with asthma Italy’s national health service (NHS) has many similarities to the UK’s, but the Italian pharmacy model is still based on dispensing prescriptions and sale of OTC medicines. There is good information communication technology (ICT), but no patient medication records. Pharmacists provide services such as blood pressure, cholesterol monitoring, body mass index check and asthma monitoring, but these services have not been recognized and funded by the Italian Government and Italian pharmacists have never being trained to conduct any type of medicine review.