Drug information sources used by community pharmacists in Louisiana: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE

There is a paucity of information in the literature regarding the type of reference sources that are used by community pharmacists to answer drug information questions. This survey was conducted to determine the frequency of use of selected drug information references by independent and chain pharmacists in Louisiana.

DESIGN

A study population of 15% of registered pharmacists was obtained by random stratification of all pharmacists on the mailing list of the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy on the basis of zip code and gender. These pharmacists were mailed an uncoded, pretested questionnaire and were asked to complete and return it if they were employed by an independent or chain pharmacy; nonchain and independent pharmacists were asked to return their questionnaires uncompleted. No follow-up was performed.

PARTICIPANTS

Ninety-one independent pharmacists (mean age=45 y; mean years of experience=21) and 71 chain pharmacists (mean age=40 y; mean years of experience=16).

OUTCOME MEASURES

The frequency of use of selected drug information reference sources by independent and chain pharmacists and the type of drug information questions received by pharmacists were determined. A Statistical Analysis System software program was used to analyze the data. Spearman's rank test was used to determine statistical differences between independent and chain pharmacists. The a priori level of significance was p less than or equal to 0.05.

RESULTS

A 54% response rate was obtained.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)