UTILIZATION OF INTERNET AND NON-INTERNET BASED DRUG INFORMATION RESOURCES BY PHARMACISTS PRACTICING IN HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS IN KADUNA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Provision of reliable information on the appropriate use of medicines is an essential component of pharmacy
practice and patient care. The aim of this study was to describe the drug information (DI) needs and sources
used by pharmacists practicing in Kaduna state, Nigeria and their practices when retrieving and utilizing internet
based sources of DI. A survey was carried out between August and October 2017, on pharmacists working in
hospitals and registered community pharmacies. The study instrument was self-administered and contained 33
items distributed in three sections. The first section collected data on the demographic characteristics of
participants, while the second and third sections focused on their utilization of general and electronic drug
information resources respectively. While 128 questionnaires distributed, 110 were finally retrieved. Majority of
the participants were males (55.5%) and practiced in the hospital (81.8%). Drug specific and disease
information were their most common drug information needs, and official drug monographs (92.7%), medicines
leaflets (74.4%) and asking other pharmacists (65.5%) were their most used sources of non-internet based drug
information. In addition, up to 80% had medical/drug applications installed on their mobile devices. Majority of
respondents (90.5%) reported needing to search for drug information on the internet at least few times a week.
Websites were the most utilized source of information accessed by them on the internet, and popular websites
visited by them included Google, Medscape, Medlineplus and Wikipedia. About 73% of study participants
reported ensuring that the information they obtained off the internet was authentic and they did this mainly by
fact crosschecking with other websites (77.9%). The pharmacists used a wide range of drug information
resources both on and off the internet, although some sub-optimal practices when utilizing these resources were
observed.