Chapter 4 - Drug Information Resources PDF

Lebanese International University School of Pharmacy Pharmacy Practice Department PHAR200 – Introduction to Drug Information Spring Semester, 2023 - 2024  Chapters: 1. Medical Terminologies 2. Drug Evaluation Monograph 3. Pharmacist Patient Care Process (PPCP) 4....

Lebanese International University School of Pharmacy Pharmacy Practice Department PHAR200 – Introduction to Drug Information Spring Semester, 2023 - 2024  Chapters: 1. Medical Terminologies 2. Drug Evaluation Monograph 3. Pharmacist Patient Care Process (PPCP) 4. Drug Information Resources 5. Drug Consult 6. Referencing 7. Drug Information Center (DIC) 8. Introduction to Biostatistics 9. Evaluation of Literature 10. Evaluation of Journal Club 11. Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines 2  School of Pharmacy Lebanese International University PHAR200 – Introduction to Drug Information Chapter 4: Drug Information Resources 3  Drug Information Resources In order to get information about a drug use in a given or situation pharmacists should aim for collecting: 1. Current information Use the most recent data and up-to-date resources 2. Critically examined information More than one resource should be used patient 3. Relevant information Information that apply directly to the circumstances consideration 4  Types of Biomedical Resources There are three sources of Drug Information: 1. Primary: Journals 2. Secondary: Search engines and abstracting services 3. Tertiary: Books 5  Types of Biomedical Resources The most appropriate and efficient first step to finding information is to consult tertiary resources before searching in other types of resources: 1- Tertiary resources contain information that has been filtered and summarized by the author or editor to provide a quick and concise overview of a topic ▪ Examples: Textbooks, compendia, Handbooks, and other general information ▪ Some tertiary resources are available as electronically searchable online applications (Micromedex®, Lexicomp®), e-books 2- Secondary resources: After evaluation of the information found in tertiary resources, a practitioner can use a secondary resource to find additional resources and gain more insight on the topic. Secondary resources are mainly in the form of searchable databases that enable location and retrieval (access) of primary or tertiary resources 6  Types of Biomedical Resources 3- Primary resources include clinical research studies, reports and articles, both published and unpublished Available freely (open-access articles) or by paid subscription (New England Journal of Medicine) ▪ Examples: Controlled trials, cohort studies, case series, and case reports ▪ They often provide the most recent in-depth information about a topic, and allow the reader to analyze and critique the study methodology to determine if the results and conclusions are valid ▪ They require strong literature evaluation skills 7  Tertiary Resources Benefits Limitations Summarized information and overview about a specific Searching for specific terms in print references can be topic more challenging compared to electronic formats Serve as an initial place to identify information Infrequently updated Easy to use and understand Gives general information Available in hard copy (print) and via online access Authors bias: (downloadable applications, or as e-books) Misinterpretation of primary or secondary resources Excellent first-line resources when dealing with a drug information question 8 Secondary Resources Abstracting is a common term used when discussing secondary resources o Abstracting also includes a brief description (or abstract) of the information provided by the article or resource 9  Secondary Resources Benefits Limitations Tools for quick search of information Mostly abstracts Updated more frequently than tertiary May not be peer reviewed or edited before literature release, unlike information published in journals and textbooks Electronic searches generally use the Lag time: Interval between publication of an Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to article and the citation of that article in an combine search terms index Used to search for primary literature Each service reviews a number of journals relying on only one service can greatly hinder literature search 10  Secondary Resources Boolean operators form the basis of mathematical sets and database logic o They are simple words (AND, OR, NOT) used as conjunctions to combine or exclude keywords in a search, resulting in more focused and productive results Saving time and effort o Databases usually recognize AND as the primary operator Why use Boolean operators? o To focus a search, particularly when your topic contains multiple search terms o To connect various pieces of information to find exactly what you're looking for 11  Secondary Resources Operator AND o Combine two terms, returning only citations containing both of those concepts or terms o Most databases will automatically combine terms using AND if a term is not specified in the search o Example: genetics AND cloning 12  Secondary Resources Operator OR o Result in an equal or greater number of returns since it will include any citation where either term is used o Example: genetics OR cloning 13  Secondary Resources Operator NOT o Decrease the number of returns since it eliminates any references with that term o May eliminate relevant articles simply because the term appears somewhere in the article o Example: genetics NOT cloning 14  Primary Resources The foundation from which the secondary and tertiary literature are derived Made up of articles that are the first report of a scientific result Published by the researchers themselves Articles are published in medical journals 15  Primary Resources Once literature has been identified in a secondary searching database, practitioners can obtain the full text articles in various ways o Many electronic secondary resources link users directly to the article of interest PubMed® links users to open access journal 16  Primary Resources Benefits Limitations Give practitioners access to detailed information by Difficulty to access, and some journals have expensive reaching original articles subscription Act as a supplement to research when tertiary resources Practitioners may draw misleading conclusions if only provide insufficient information, they provide the most certain trials are evaluated without the context of other current information research Published in a peer reviewed journals Practitioners must have strong medical literature evaluation skills to effectively use primary literature as resources in practice Difficulty to determine which journals are most essential (appropriate) to pharmacy practice due to the rapidly increasing number of specialty journals being published 17  Alternative Resources: Internet Searches Practitioners may need to use alternative resources General Internet search for information This can be useful as a starting point for questions about: o Uncommon diseases o Unfamiliar terms o Drugs in development o Marketed OTC products o Combination dietary supplements o Information on topics recently in the news o Specific product claims provided by the manufacturer 18 Examples: Google scholar, Yahoo. Lycos…  Alternative Resources: Internet Searches In order to assess the quality of online information, several standards and programs now exist o Organizations such as the Health on the Net (HON code, https://www.hon.ch), which clearly defines standards to evaluate the quality of information available via a website o These organizations do not evaluate every website available; a website must request an evaluation o Many websites do not request an evaluation; therefore, the lack of a quality seal does not necessarily indicate that the information is of low quality 19  Alternative Resources: Internet Searches Practitioners should use the following criteria when determining the quality of online material: o Is the source credible, without a vested interest in promoting one particular treatment or product? o Is the information accurate and current? o Does the site link to other nonaffiliated sites that provide consistently good information? o Is the information appropriately detailed and referenced? o Is it possible to identify the author of the site to contact with additional questions or comments? 20