Pharmacist intervention to improve medication adherence in patients with depressive disorder: A scoping review

Depression imposes a substantial global burden, yet poor adherence to antidepressants continues to undermine treatment outcomes. Despite pharmacists’ accessibility, evidence on how their interventions improve adherence remains fragmented and insufficiently synthesized. This scoping review mapped pharmacist-led strategies to enhance antidepressant adherence in depressive disorders. Following PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute guidance, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched for studies published from 2005 to 2025, and 18 eligible studies were identified. Interventions were clustered into educational, behavioral, affective, and provider-targeted approaches. Multicomponent and sustained interventions showed the most consistent improvements in adherence, although effects varied according to intervention intensity and follow-up duration. Key barriers included limited training, workload, and system constraints. This review advances the field by integrating disparate evidence and highlighting the need for standardized, scalable, and culturally responsive pharmacist-led models. These findings inform the optimization of pharmacists’ roles in improving antidepressant adherence, particularly in resource-constrained settings.