An educational intervention study evaluating a pharmacist-directed
skin screening program
Poster 363405
Ryan H. Brandeberry, PharmD candidate, William B. Hays, PharmD candidate,
Karen L. Kier, PhD BCPS BCACP, Michael J. Rush, PharmD CDE BCACP
ONU HealthWise is a multidisciplinary health and wellness
clinic located on the campus of ONU that offers medication
therapy management, disease state management, preventive
health screening, nutrition counseling, and physical wellness
coaching to university employees and their families.
The skin screening was a new, targeted preventative care
screening at Ohio Northern University, as part of the
Preventive Care arm of the HealthWise program.
OBJECTIVE: To have pharmacy screen patients to educate
them on their specific risks of sun damage, as well as proper
prevention strategies to limit damage, and in turn, decrease
the incidence of skin cancer.
Provided valuable preventative care for employees
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• Preventive arm of employee program to look at skin screening
• Student-pharmacist designed educational pamphlet and
handouts
• Student-pharmacist designed patient questionnaire
• ONU IRB approved
• Emails sent for skin screening
• Employees offered incentives for Healthy Points
• Skin Scope FS 112-P (Ikonna) for screening
• All patients interviewed, educated, and screened
• Abnormalities charted on blank face form
• Abnormalities classified by type
• Hyperpigmentation was classified as mild to severe
• Severe patients were then rated on a rating scale of 1-5
(1=mild, 3=moderate, 5=most severe)
• All participants were offered counseling for preventive skin
care
• Any patient classified as severe or with a past medical
history/family history of skin cancer was referred to a
dermatologist
• Student pharmacists counseled patients according to their
results with student created education material
• All information was recorded and entered into database
• Employee wellness program offered healthy points toward
insurance discounts for employees that screened
• Screening dates held:
• 4/19/14, 4/24/14, 4/26/14, 4/28/14
• SPSSx was used to analyze all data and regression analysis
• Screening conducted by 5 student pharmacists, 2
pharmacists, and 1 nurse practitioner
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Total of 80 patients screened
66 (82.5%) females
14 (17.5%) males
Average age was 44.7 years
• Range 24 to 65 years
8 (10%) patients were on a sun
sensitizing medication
Average number of hours in the
sun in the summer was 16.3 hours
per week
Average number of hours in the
sun in the winter was 5.6 hours per
week
Logistic Regression found that no
one variable was predictive of who
needed to be referred
Chi squared test showed no
statistically significant differences
• 35 (43.75%) referred to physician
• Of the 35 referred
• 18 (51.4%) ranked 1=mild
• 9 (25.7%) ranked 2
• 5 (14.3%) ranked 3=moderate
• 2 (5.7%) ranked 4
• 1 (2.9%) ranked 5=severe
• 80 (100%) counseled on skin health
and preventative care
• Counseling averaged 3 to 5 minutes
per patient
• Questions and counseling related
to skin health
• Risk factors
• Proper sun screen application
technique
• Proper reapplication timing
• SPF recommendations
• Skin protection methods other
than sunscreen, such as clothing,
sunglasses, etc.
• Recognition of possible cancerous
lesions
• First successfully implemented skin targeted preventive
screening program for ONU HealthWise
• Thirty-five patients were found to have
hyperpigmentation or other risk factors resulting in
physician referral
• This data, in collaboration with other data, was used to
support full wellness coverage by University healthcare
plan.
• ONU Human Resources added additional wellness points
for skin screenings
• High percentage of patients would benefit from a referral
to a dermatologist
• Pharmacists are in an ideal setting to counsel patients on
proper skin care including prevention with sunscreen and
sun sensitizing medications
• Provided a great platform for pharmacist-employee
interaction and skin education
Provided unique learning for APPE/IPPE students
• Direct patient interaction/counseling
• Experience in disease prevention and pharmacotherapy
• Implement biannual preventive screenings
• Conduct further screenings outside the University
• Conduct follow-up screenings with patients classified as
moderate to severe
• Increase number of pharmacies to provide this service
• Collect additional demographic data such as what SPF
patients use and how often sunscreen is applied
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Predominantly Caucasian population
Screened only the face
Screenings announced predominately via emails
High-risk populations were not targeted
Self-reported data on risk factors and medications
University offered incentive program for screenings
which could have encourage employees to participate
who would not have voluntarily participated in a
preventive care program
The authors have no known conflicts of interest