We also evaluated the extent to which researchers

attended to communication by examining whether publications included information on the time pharmacists spent delivering 3-MA chemical structure the intervention or the number of subsequent contacts. We found that nine studies[17–23,25,31,34–37,39] included information about the duration of pharmacist–patient interactions and 13 studies[17–19,21,22,26–39] recorded the number of follow-up visits between pharmacists and diabetic patients. Only six studies reported both the duration of pharmacist–patient interactions and the number of follow-ups.[17–20,22,31,34–37,39] To evaluate the extent of researchers’ attention to communication, we considered how pharmacists had been trained to deliver interventions. Only six studies reported that pharmacists had been trained in drug and disease management[22,26,27,29,30,32,34–38] while three stated that pharmacists

had been trained in patient-centred communication.[19,20,29,30,32] One study design[32] included, for example, ‘role-play’ exercises. In another case[29,30] pharmacists were involved in ‘experience-based learning’ SB431542 cell line to enable them to better understand diabetic patients’ experiences of shopping, exercising and blood-sugar self-testing. In three studies, authors reported that participating pharmacists had been provided with training in research protocol.[21,22,24] Finally,

one study reported that pharmacists had been taught the principles of patient-centred care through training in Self-Regulatory Model (SRM) theory.[19,20] Pharmacists in this project were specifically instructed, for example, to ‘give information, advice or reassurance in response to the patient’s expressed needs’ (p.166). The authors of this study Resminostat also audio-recorded a sample of the interventions for quality-control purposes. Quality control was defined as checking for ‘safety’ and as evaluating pharmacist’s advice as ‘helpful’ or not from the point of view of an expert review panel. Interventions were also documented as ‘useful’ or not from the point of view of patient participants. This study was also the only one that reported on having recorded actual communication between pharmacists and diabetic patients. The authors also reported that pharmacists had been specifically trained to listen to diabetic patients. Some researchers appear to presume that pharmacists practice patient-centred care as a result of their professional training as pharmacists. When researchers did not report that participating pharmacists had been specifically trained to deliver interventions according to patient-centred communication principles, researchers described pharmacists in three ways: as ‘diabetes educators’, ‘clinical or consultant pharmacists’ or simply as ‘pharmacists’.