Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Provision of appropriate drug information improves patient outcome. The objective of this study was to investigate the drug information needs of Nigerian pharmacists in Enugu. A questionnaire consisting of 24 practice problems requiring pharmacists to search for drug information was developed and administered. Patient counseling (3.58 ± 1.35) and adverse drug events (3.40 ± 1.28) were among the most common practice problems requiring pharmacists to search for drug information. The most-used sources of drug information were Index of Essential Medicines (Emdex; 4.97 ± 1.67), British National Formulary (4.91 ± 1.72), and textbooks (4.40 ± 1.87). An association exists between the extent of use of Emdex and work experience (P =. 011). Practice setting of pharmacists was significantly associated with the degree of use of the British National Formulary (P =.003) and textbooks (P =.046). Therapy-specific information constitutes the drug information needs of the respondents. Textbooks and pocket reference books were the most-used sources of drug information.

Keywords

Drug information Pharmacists Practice problems Sources Nigeria

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brodie

. Need for a theoretical base for pharmacy practice. Am J Hosp Pharm. 1981;38:49–53.

Oparah

Eferakeya

. Attitudes of Nigerian pharmacists towards pharmaceutical care. Pharm World Sci. 2005;27:208–214.

Oparah

Iwuagwu

. Public perceptions of community pharmacists in Benin City, Nigeria. Int J Pharm Pract. 2001;9:191–195.

Schjott

Pomp

Gedde-Dahl

. Quality and impact of problem-oriented drug information: a method to change clinical practice among physicians? Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2002;57:897–902.

Melnyk

Shevchuk

Remillard

. Impact of the dial access drug information service on patient outcome. Ann Pharmacother. 2000;34:585–592.

Bond

Raehl

Franke

. Clinical pharmacy services, hospital pharmacy staffing, and medication errors in the United States hospitals. Pharmacotherapy. 2002;22:134–147.

Kinky

Erush

Laskin

Gibson

. Economic impact of a drug information service. Ann Pharmacother. 1999;33:11–16.

Lindsay

Midford

Cooper

. Researching drug information needs in Australia. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2002;21:287–294.

Zehnder

Beutler

Bruppacher

Ehrenhofer

Hersberger

. Needs and use of drug information sources in community pharmacies: a questionnaire based survey in German-speaking Switzerland. Pharm World Sci. 2004;26:197–202.

10.

Huh

Delorme

Reid

. Factors affecting trust in on-line prescription drug information and impact of trust on behavior following exposure to DTC advertising. J Health Commun. 2005;10:711–731.

11.

Molaug

Spigset

. [One year's written drug information to a general practitioner]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2001;121:585–588.

12.

Nicholas

. Principles of rational prescribing in general practice. Aust Prescri. 1991;14:75–78.

13.

Curran

. The evolving role of United States industry-based drug information departments. Drug Inf J. 2003;37:439–443.

14.

Curran

Sundar

Wesche

. A same-day standard for responding to drug information requests by a pharmaceutical company. Drug Inf J. 2003;37:241–249.

15.

Wyatt

Sullivan

. ABC of health informatics. What is health information? BMJ. 2005;331:566–568.

16.

Consumers' Association. Patient information: what is the prognosis? Policy report. 2003. Available at: http://www.which.net/campaigns/health/patientinformation/index.html. Accessed December 18, 2005.

17.

Kirking

. Pharmacists' perception of their patient counseling activities. Contemp Pharm Pract. 1982;5:230–238.

18.

Koo

Krass

Aslani

. Factors influencing consumer use of written drug information. Ann Pharmacother. 2003;37:259–267.

19.

Nair

Dolovich

Cassels

What patients want to know about their medications. Can Fam Physician. 2002;48:104–110.

20.

Newby

Hill

Barker

Drew

Henry

. Drug information for consumers: should it be disease or medication specific? Results of a community survey. Aus N Z J Public Health. 2001;25:564–570.

21.

Guillaume

Bath

. The impact of health scares on parents' information needs and preferred information sources: a case study of the MMR vaccine scare. Health Informatics J. 2004;10:5–22.

22.

Rosenberg

Koumis

Nathan

Cicero

McGuire

. Current status of pharmacist-operated drug information centers in the United States. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2004;61:2023–2032.

23.

Shields

McQueen

Bryant

. National survey of dietary supplement resources at drug information centers. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2004;44:36–40.

24.

Mansfield

. Encouraging drug companies to be honest. Aust Prescri. 1991;14:74.

25.

Souney

Barnes

. Drug information resources. In: Shargel

Mutnick

Souney

Swanson

, eds. Comprehensive Pharmacy Review. New York: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins; 2001:407.

26.

Mansfield

. Encouraging trustworthy drug promotion. Essential Drug Monitor. 1994;17:6–7.

27.

Rene

Young

Murray

. Rationale behind the choice of topical β-blocker in glaucoma. Pharm J. 1996;256:276–277.

An Investigation of Drug Information Needs of Nigerian Pharmacists

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References