Construction and Evaluation of a Protocol to Support the Prescription of Glucagon Nasal Powder during Educational Hospitalization in Patients with Diabetes

－Psychological Effects of Glucagon Nasal Powder in Patients at Risk of Developing Devere Hypoglycemia－

Abstract

Hypoglycemia is an acute complication of diabetes mellitus. In severe cases, it may lead to impaired consciousness, and glucagon nasal powder plays an important role as an emergency treatment. However, there have been no reports of pharmacist interventions using glucagon nasal powder. Therefore, we established a pharmacotherapy management-based protocol to prescribe glucagon nasal powder in educational hospitalization in patients with diabetes, and evaluated its efficacy by a questionnaire survey. According to this protocol, the pharmacist plays a central role in providing education about hypoglycemia and offering glucagon nasal powder to patients based on agreement with the attending physician. During the first year after its introduction, 31 patients received glucagon nasal powder following this protocol. The questionnaire survey revealed that patients who received glucagon nasal powder had a better understanding than patients who did not. Furthermore, 60％ of the patients stated that glucagon nasal powder reduced their hypoglycemia anxiety. The present study showed that glucagon nasal powder may be advantageous for reducing hypoglycemia anxiety, and this protocol has the potential to improve the understanding of hypoglycemia. Therefore, this protocol could contribute to improved adherence.