Drug information needs of physicians treating diabetic nephropathy in a tertiary care hospital.

OBJECTIVE

Diabetic Nephropathy is a leading cause of end stage renal disease. Doctors often have questions during patient care when they are advised to seek the best available evidence. Rational drug use demands access to unbiased drug information. This study was conducted to delineate and analyse the patient-specific drug information needs of physicians treating diabetic nephropathy in Nephrology ward of a south Indian tertiary care hospital.

METHODS

A prospective, observational study was conducted in the Department of Nephrology in St John's Medical College, Bangalore from 1st October 2003 to 31st March 2004. The relevant data regarding patient- specific queries of physicians on drug information were collected by joining physicians on clinical rounds and analysed.

RESULTS

Out of 102 patients included in the study, physicians had queries on 66% of patients. The total number of queries was 80. The average number of queries per nephrologist was 9 and those per physician were 10. Queries on adverse drug reactions and drug interactions exceeded (31%) others. Queries on anti-hypertensive drugs were the maximum (33%) followed by antimicrobials (12.5%). About 93% of queries were answered. Tertiary sources (51%) were the most commonly used drug information sources. The mean time to find the answer to a query was about 30 minutes.

CONCLUSION

Physicians treating DN are in need of drug information services, especially on adverse drug reactions and drug interactions during in-patient care. The majority of queries of physicians treating diabetic nephropathy can be answered by referring authentic drug information sources.