Cuidado farmacêutico nas visitas domiciliares: uma revisão de escopo

Abstract

The practice of home visits (HVs) carried out by health professionals has been well received worldwide, and this fact may be due to the epidemiological and demographic transition in recent years, which led to the emergence of new health demands. Regarding pharmaceutical professionals, this practice is still little explored, and when applied it can help in understanding the subjectivity in relation to the disease and pharmacotherapy. Therefore, this study aims to provide an expanded conception of how home visits are used by pharmaceutical professionals, seeking to provide information about the transmitted services and activities; the patients and/or beneficiary population; and the results and/or impacts of this professional's performance in the context of home health care. For this, the methodology used was the scope review, conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMAScR) tool, and using the databases - MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL, in addition to the additional gray literature search. Studies were included through paired individual reading and disagreements were resolved by a third evaluator. A total of 116 studies were included, with the publication date between 1982 and 2022, and involving 23 different countries. Studies have shown that the services most performed by pharmacists during visits are review of pharmacotherapy and medication reconciliation. The target audience primarily involved elderly patients with chronic conditions and using three or more medications, followed by patients who were discharged and/or were more likely to have a readmission after discharge and patients who were referred by other services and/or Health professionals. Through the HVs, mostly positive process, clinical, humanistic and economic outcomes were evidenced. This review allowed for a worldwide analysis of the activities carried out by pharmacists during home visits, in which the heterogeneity of the activities and/or services performed is noted, which tend to provide favorable health outcomes for the public served. This study can contribute to health systems, as well as to pharmacists, in increasing the process of implementing this practice as an effective tool in health care.