The effect of pharmacist-led education on the quality of life of children with familial Mediterranean fever

Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is generally defined with short endurance, suddenly observed fever (39-40 °C) and painful abdomen, joints, chest. The aim is to measure the impact of pharmacist-led education on the quality of life (QoL) of children with FMF. This study was carried out in the Pediatric Rheumatology out-patient clinic of Istanbul Medeniyet University Ministry of Health Goztepe Research and Teaching Hospital, Istanbul. The QoL of 59 children was measured using the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scale. Oral and written education about the disease and its treatment was provided and after a lag period QoL was reevaluated. Significant improvements in QoL were recorded in the domains of physical, psychosocial and school functioning (p<0.05); and in the emotional functioning of patients with more severe attacks. These improvements were only found to be significant after a lag period of more than four weeks. Findings suggest that the medium term benefits of education on QoL may be more important than shorter term gains. Additionally, prescribed doses were observed to be lower than optimal doses which may lead to inadequate therapy.