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. 2023 Jan 24;16(1):14.
doi: 10.1186/s40545-022-00505-0.

Clinical pharmacists' intervention on pain management in cancer patients (PharmaCAP trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Sunil Shrestha  1 , Ali Qais Blebil  2 , Siew Li Teoh  3 , Simit Sapkota  4   5 , Bhuvan Kc  3   6   7 , Vibhu Paudyal  8 , Siew Hua Gan  3
Affiliations

Clinical pharmacists' intervention on pain management in cancer patients (PharmaCAP trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Sunil Shrestha et al. J Pharm Policy Pract. .

Abstract

Introduction: Evidence-based services to support cancer patients with pain via clinical pharmacy services are currently lacking. Therefore, there is a need to undertake a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to explore the effectiveness of clinical pharmacists (CPs)' input into the multidisciplinary team (MDT) in providing better therapeutic outcomes for cancer pain management.

Objectives: The main aim of this pilot RCT is to determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of integrating CPs into the MDT for cancer pain management on the clinical outcomes of cancer patients experiencing pain.

Methods: This study protocol outlines two-armed multicenter pilot RCT. Cancer patients suffering from pain will be randomly allocated to receive either clinical pharmacy services, i.e., PharmaCAP trial intervention from the CP, or the usual standard care (i.e., control group). Patients will be recruited consecutively from two hospitals in Kathmandu valley, Nepal. The outcomes will be assessed at baseline (pre-intervention) and 4 weeks post-intervention. The primary feasibility outcomes will include eligibility rate, recruitment rate, willingness to participate, acceptability of screening procedures and random allocation, possible contamination between the groups, intervention fidelity and compliance, treatment satisfaction, and patient understanding of the provided interventions. Subsequently, the primary clinical outcome, i.e., pain intensity of cancer patients, will be assessed. The secondary clinical outcomes will include health-related quality of life (HRQoL), anxiety, depression, adverse drug reactions, and patient medication compliance following the integration of CP into the healthcare team.

Discussion: The feasibility and potential for integrating CP involvement in MDT to improve clinical outcomes of cancer patients with pain will be evaluated through the PharmaCAP trial.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05021393. Registered on 25th August 2022.

Keywords: Cancer pain; Cancer patients; Clinical pharmacist; Feasibility study; Pilot trial; Randomized controlled trial.

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Conflict of interest statement

Sunil Shrestha is a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) student from the School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, and is supported by Monash University Malaysia Graduate Research Merit Scholarship to study. The protocol of this study was presented as a poster at the IASP World Congress on Pain, held from 19–23 September 2022, organized by the International Association for the Study of Pain. Other authors report no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Consort flow diagram of the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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