INTEGRAL UNIVERSITY
LUCKNOW
Faculty of pharmacy
2022 -2023
Assignment Topic
DRUG INFORMATION
SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO
ANAYAT ULLAH [Link] NEMATULLAH
PHARM D 4TH YEAR ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
ENROLL – 1900104212 FACULTY OF PHARMACY
INTRODUCTION
Drug information means providing clinically relevant information on any
aspect of drug use relating to individual patients, or general information on
how best to use drugs for populations.
Drug information service can be applied to any activity where information
about drug use is transferred and includes patient related aspects of
pharmaceutical care.
• A Drug information center is an area where pharmacists (or other health
care professionals) specialise in providing information to health professionals
or public.
• The drug information centre provides authenticate, unbiased information to
healthcare professionals, provide tailor-made counselling and health
information to patients/consumer as well as monitor and document adverse
drug reactions.
DRUG INFORMATION:
The first drug information centre was opened in 1962 at the university of
Kentucky medical centre and was intended to be utilised as a source of
selected, comprehensive drug information.
• A drug information centre can also contribute to pharmacovigilance
(adverse drug reaction reporting), drug use reviews, health education
programmes and clinical research.
The objectives of DIC are.
• To provide an organized database of specialized information on medicines
and therapeutics to meet the drug information needs of practitioners.
• To educate pharmacy students to serve as effective providers of medicines
information.
• To provide accurate and unbiased medicines information service to the
pharmacists, physicians and other health care professionals in the hospital
and community.
• To promote patient care through rational use of medicines.
DRUG INFORMATION RESOURCES:
• Textbooks, newsletters, journals,
• Newsletters, microfiche reader,
• Optical discs,
• Computer systems
• Tertiary resources >>>Secondary resources >>>Primary resources
Primary resources:
• Primary literature describes unique experiences which change the world in
terms of available knowledge.
• They are the foundation on which all other drug information is based. These
include journal publications on drug-related subjects, such as reports of
clinical drug trials, case reports, and pharmacological research. Evaluating
primary literature is difficult.
• The most reliable evidence comes from reports on randomized controlled
trials. Proper evaluation of these trials requires considerable experience, and
systematic reviews of combined trials (meta-analyses) may be necessary.
• Sources:
• ¾ Medical and therapeutics Journal:
• Annals of internal medicine.
• British medical journal.
• Journal of the medical association.
• New England Journal of Medicine.
• ¾ Pharmacy journals:
• American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy.
• Clinical Pharmacy
• DICP-Annals of pharmacotherapy.
• Journal of Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy.
• ¾ Drug and Toxicology Information and Pharmacology Journal.
• British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
• Human and Experimental Toxicology.
Need of drug information
The no of drugs in the international market has increased very much
The newer drugs are generally more potent & selective, and formulations
becoming increasingly complex the literature on drugs has also expanded and
covers a wide range of information.
To introduce a new drug into the practice, the professionals need to evaluate
the given information.
A simple,quick reference to a pharmacopoeia or formulary is no longer
sufficient.
Aims and objectives of drug information services.
The provision of information to health professionals on specific problems
related to the use of drugs in particular patients.
The provision of information to officials in government agencies to optimise
the decision making process.
The preparation and development of guidelines and formularies.
To improve patient compliance and to provide a guide to responsible self
medication.
To develop and participate in continuing education programs.
To participate in undergraduate and graduate teaching programs.
To develop educational activities regarding the appropriate use of drugs for
patients in the community
To prepare and distribute material on drugs to health personnel in the form of
a drug Information bulletin and/or other media.
To develop and participate in research programs.
Strategies of selecting drug information sources
Tertiary resources are good when:
• The answer to a question is basic factual knowledge in the field
• The question was studied extensively and a conclusion was made
• Many experts have addressed the question and agree on answer Secondary
and primary resources are good when:
• A question is new and has never been studied
• There is no consensus among experts; various opinions abound
• There is conflicting evidence, and the question needs further study
All pharmacists are expected to provide some level of drug information
service.
Some even work exclusively as drug information pharmacists in centers for
drug information.
Most drug information centers (DICs) associated with colleges or institutions
provide the typical service of responding to drug information questions.
There can be several other services provided; these include
precepting/teaching pharmacy students and residents on rotation, formulary
management responsibilities, medication use evaluations, adverse drug
reaction surveillance, and general education of staff through newsletters or
other communications.
Other DICs found in industry or poison centers often respond to drug
information questions but may not provide all of the previous services
mentioned.
Tertiary, secondary, and primary references must be utilized appropriately
when researching questions, and one needs to be able to select the most
appropriate resource from various examples of books, databases, and Internet
websites when responding to a drug information question.