Evaluation of drug information services provided by Clinical Pharmacists in a resource limited setting of India
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objective: The primary aim of this study was to assess the responses of a clinical pharmacist at a recently established drug information and patient counseling center to various drug information queries received in a resource-limited setting of India.
Method: A prospective study on drug information requests received was conducted from December 2021 to May 2023. Socio-demographic information, how inquiries were received and responded to, types of references used, etc. were recorded in a specially designed data collection form based on a “modified systemic approach” for a drug information query. Requester’s Informed consent was also obtained. The acquired data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel for Windows. To simplify reporting, descriptive analysis was performed using frequencies and percentages and results obtained were presented in tables.
Findings: During the study period, a total of 423 drug information queries were received, majority were through direct walk-in (50.12%), written format (33.81%) followed by telephonic communication (12.53%). More than 50% of the queries were from people having graduate qualification (54.14%), and (25.06%) having high school qualification.
Discussion: In our study the number of query received (423) were less as compared to other studies. Majority of queries were related to side effect and use of drugs. The tertiary sources such as textbooks and internet resources were the most frequently used resources to answer the queries.
Conclusion: To make the services more effective, drug information center should be evaluated for economic and clinical outcome of the services provided. Further, there is a need to publicize the importance of drug information services among health care professionals and to the society for promoting the rational use of medicine.