Search

A questionnaire survey of European drug information centres (DICs) was conducted. DICs mentioned in the ESCP directories and other sources were identified and contacted. Information on basic characteristics was obtained: affiliation, the scope of activities, employees, question-answer service characteristics, information sources and the economic aspects of the DICs' work. Information from 84 DICs was analysed (return rate = 71.3%). DICs are mainly affiliated to hospitals (68%), rather rarely with faculties of pharmacy (6%) or with faculties of medicine (8.3%). Activities of DICs mainly include: question-answer service (98%), issue of bulletins (68%), participation in P&T committees (63%), tuition (61%) and drug-use evaluation (52%). Pharmacists, 1-2 full- or part-time, are the most frequent employees working in the DICs. When the question-answer service was analysed, it was found that 56% of the DICs are open only to the health-care professionals and 43% provide a service to the lay public. Questions are mainly concerned with the side effects, indication/therapeutic use and the dosage of the drugs. The majority of DICs (91%) document their activities, very often on a computer database. Quality assurance is provided by almost 75% of DICs, usually by a review (58%) or a feed-back questionnaire (32%). Information sources listed as most frequently used include Martindale--The Extrapharmacopeia, journals such as Lancet, Medline and Micromedex databases. DICs are usually financially supported by the organizations to whom they are affiliated. Fees are charged, for special activities, by 9.5% of DICs.

An analysis was carried out concerning the questions regarding drug information solved by the information service section of the State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL) in 1992-1995. A rapid decrease in the number of questions was observed during the period under study. This trend was mainly caused by a decline in questions regarding the availability of drugs in the market. Questions were posed in a similar ratio by physicians and pharmacists predominantly from Prague and surrounding areas. Questions from other categories of health-care professionals and the lay public are in minority. Most questions focus on the characteristic of the drug and its availability. AISLP, Martindale and Rote Liste serve as the principal information sources.

Description and evaluation of a drug information centre's (DIC) professional activities one year after establishment are summarized. The aims of the centre are: to evaluate which problem areas are frequently requested, how frequently and by whom; which information sources are the most appropriate for the service and the approximate cost of such a service. We received 80 questions during the first 8 months. The questions were mainly asked by hospital physicians (32.5%) and pharmacists (32.5%), other health-care professionals were a minority; the scopes of most frequently asked questions include general properties of active substances (12.2%), contents of particular preparations (21%), dosage (11%), side effects (21%) and indications/contraindications (15%). Cost of the service included variable (mainly phone and mail charges, copy and print of the documents) and fixed costs (cost of software and salary of the staff).