Chronotherapy in Pharmacy Practice

Abstract

Chronotherapy is the administration of medications in accordance with biological rhythms to optimise therapeutic outcomes and/or control/minimise adverse effects. Community pharmacists play a significant role in public health and its promotion. They are in a unique position to provide their expertise and help patients manage illness, and medication administration/consumption. Despite the increasing recognition of chronotherapy in the literature and its application in clinical practice, the impact of these developments on health care professionals, particularly on pharmacists is largely unknown in Australia. The overarching aim of this thesis is to explore the evidence for the use of chronotherapy principles and the extent of their application in Australian pharmacy practice setting. The specific objectives of this research project included: To provide the research context for the thesis. To explore Australian drug-information sources for the currency of ‘time of administration’ recommendations based on chronotherapy for commonly prescribed medications. To explore the application of chronotherapy in pharmacy practice, including: Community pharmacists’ opinions of, and experience with, the application of chronotherapy principles in their practice. Development, implementation, and evaluation of an educational intervention on chronotherapy for final-year pharmacy students. To our knowledge, this study presents the first series of research steps investigating the application of principles of chronotherapy within the community pharmacy sector in Australia.