Research and evaluation

Provision of progestogen-only pill with emergency contraception in community pharmacy improves ongoing contraception use

Community pharmacy provision of the progestogen-only pill, and the offer of rapid access to a sexual and reproductive health clinic along with emergency contraception, was associated with a 20% increase in use of effective contraception.…

All pharmacists should consider a research fellowship

The views expressed in this letter are those of the author’s. If you would like to submit a letter to The Pharmaceutical Journal, please click here. We like to think that the way healthcare is delivered in the UK, including the services we provide as pharmacists, is based on …

Patients’ perspectives on polypharmacy are highly personal, systematic review concludes

Healthcare professionals should actively seek to understand individual patients’ perspectives on polypharmacy and its challenges, research in BMJ Open has concluded.…

Fremanezumab safe and effective for preventing migraine over longer term, study suggests

Patients with migraine continue to benefit from preventive treatment with fremanezumab over the longer term, with sustained reductions in monthly migraine and headache days, a study in Neurology has suggested.…

Routine NSAID use not associated with poorer outcomes in patients hospitalised with COVID-19

Routine use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs might confer “modest” survival benefit for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 and is not associated with poorer outcomes, the results of a study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine have suggested.…

Low-carb diet sends nearly half of type 2 diabetes patients into remission in small research study

Following a lower carbohydrate diet for an average of 23 months could help achieve a 46% drug-free type 2 diabetes mellitus remission rate in UK primary care.…

‘I could barely function’ – the devastating effects of long COVID

Most people recover from COVID-19 within two weeks; however, early figures suggest that around one in seven people have symptoms lasting for at least four weeks, and a smaller proportion are sick for months.…

Aspirin added to RECOVERY COVID-19 trial, MPs told

Aspirin is the latest drug to be added to the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy trial, the chair of the trial has told MPs.…

Cefiderocol effective for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections

The clinical and microbiological outcomes of cefiderocol, a new antibiotic, were similar to the best available therapy for patients with life-threatening carbapenem-resistant infections, a phase III study has suggested.…

Welsh pharmacy sore throat test and treat service ‘should not be routinely adopted’, review finds

The use of rapid antigen detection tests in community pharmacies for the diagnosis and management of people with group A streptococcal infections should not be routinely adopted, according to guidance from Health Technology Wales.…