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Italian drug information centres: benchmark report. 2001

D Scala, and A Bracco, and S Cozzolino, and A Cristinziano, and C De Marino, and A Di Martino, and E Gonzalez, and A Mancini, and F Romagnuolo, and L Zeuli
Centro di Biofarmacologia e Documentazione Clinica, A.O. Cardarelli, Via S. Glacomo dei Capri, 66 80131 Naples, Italy.

OBJECTIVE Pharmacist-operated Drug Information Centres (DICs) in Italy were surveyed to gather current information concerning the status, availability and scope of their services. METHODS 40 DICs were identified and a questionnaire was mailed to them. Topics covered in the questionnaire included staffing, resources, activities and services. The results were compared with previous survey results to identify trends. RESULTS Information from 36 DICs was analysed (response rate = 90%). Almost all regions of the country are represented. Pharmacists, part-time or full-time, are the most frequent employees working in the DICs. 91% of DICs participate in the P/T committee, 74% takes part in the technical scientific committee for clinical experimentation and/or to the Medical Ethics committee and 60% participate in the hospital infection committee. 90% of DICs produce newsletters and/or bulletins and are involved in research projects. Regarding the question-answer service, requests are mainly concerned with clinical comparative efficacy, therapeutic use, adverse effects. The most frequent users are physicians (67%) followed by pharmacists (16%) while other professionals use DICs to lesser extent. The most frequently used information sources, include "Goodman and Gilman's the pharmacological basis of therapeutics", Martindale: the Extra Pharmacopeia and Physician's Desk Reference; journals such as the Medical Letter, Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin and Drug and Therapeutic Bulletin, Micromedex, Medline and IOWA databases. Data collected through the questionnaire and details about organisation and activity of Italian DICs are available in "Eupharma", the web-site of the Italian Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SIFO) at the URL http://www.sifo.it. CONCLUSIONS The results parallel the European and American trends. In future communication and collaboration at European level could help to identify best practice models that would result in the standardisation of the activities and in the harmonisation of programs in common areas of interest.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007558 Italy A country in southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. The capital is Rome. Sardinia
D011643 Publishing "The business or profession of the commercial production and issuance of literature" (Webster's 3d). It includes the publisher, publication processes, editing and editors. Production may be by conventional printing methods or by electronic publishing. Electronic Publishing,Publishing, Electronic,Electronic Publishings,Publishings, Electronic
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003625 Data Collection Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data. Data Collection Methods,Dual Data Collection,Collection Method, Data,Collection Methods, Data,Collection, Data,Collection, Dual Data,Data Collection Method,Method, Data Collection,Methods, Data Collection
D004346 Drug Information Services Services providing pharmaceutic and therapeutic drug information and consultation. Information Services, Drug,Services, Drug Information,Drug Information Service,Information Service, Drug,Service, Drug Information
D006761 Hospitals Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients. Hospital
D000078329 Workforce The number of people working or available for work or service. Human Resources,Labor Supply,Manpower,Staffing,Womanpower,Human Resource,Labor Supplies,Manpowers,Staffings,Supply, Labor,Womanpowers,Workforces
D016208 Databases, Factual Extensive collections, reputedly complete, of facts and data garnered from material of a specialized subject area and made available for analysis and application. The collection can be automated by various contemporary methods for retrieval. The concept should be differentiated from DATABASES, BIBLIOGRAPHIC which is restricted to collections of bibliographic references. Databanks, Factual,Data Banks, Factual,Data Bases, Factual,Data Bank, Factual,Data Base, Factual,Databank, Factual,Database, Factual,Factual Data Bank,Factual Data Banks,Factual Data Base,Factual Data Bases,Factual Databank,Factual Databanks,Factual Database,Factual Databases

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