Drug information sources for community pharmacy practice

Abstract

A primary contribution of pharmacists in different pharmaceutical fields is accessing and appraising drug information (DI). DI must be acquired from reliable sources which are simultaneously easily accessible and user friendly. The study aimed to assess the use of DI sources utilised by pharmacists in a patient care setting. Pharmacists’ needs related to DI using developing technologies, resources used and patient information queries, were evaluated. Two questionnaires were developed and sent out to 68 community pharmacies across the islands, asking specific queries related to DI usage. The questionnaires sought information about which population group/s frequent the pharmacy mostly, what questions patients typically ask regarding the use of a medicinal product and what DI sources pharmacists use. Qualities of a variety of DI sources were examined with specific importance to the local drug database available through the local Malta Medicines Authority (MMA) medicines database. In the first questionnaire, the response rate was 68% (n=46). The elderly were the most frequent attending population, with dermatology being the most sought-after speciality service. The most common patient queries were method of administration (100%, n=46), indication, product prices (91%, n=42) and adverse effects (76%, n=35). Nine pharmacists (20%) found that questions related to medicinal product prices were mostly difficult to answer. Online sources and the British National Formulary (BNF) were the most prevalent sources at the pharmacy (100%, n=46). PubMed and Drugs.com were significantly sought-after despite being secondary DI sources, with 40 respondents choosing one or both as their preferred databases. In the second questionnaire, the response rate was 45% (n=30) with a majority of the respondents reporting that they make frequent (33%, n=10) and occasional (37%, n=11) use of the MMA portal. When healthcare professionals (HCPs) sought DI from the MMA database, the product was more likely searched for via active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) name (41%, n=19) rather than the brand name (22%, n=10). Statistics (47%, n=22) showed that DI sources originating from online platforms and the BNF are mostly efficacious. DI knowledge regarding dermatology and geriatrics were highlighted due to relative frequency. DI sources utilised by community pharmacists are predominantly online sources with handheld platforms reported as the most efficient in terms of DI manipulation.