The Drug Information Service at a University Hospital in Malaysia: Characteristics of Drug Inquiries
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0092-8615/98 Copyright 0 1998 Drug Information Association Inc.
F’rinted in the USA. All rights reserved.
THE DRUG INFORMATION SERVICE AT A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN MALAYSIA: CHARACTERISTICS OF DRUG INQUIRIES AB FATAHAB RAHMAN,PHARMD Head, Drug Information Unit, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia, and Lecturer, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia Kelantan Campus, Kelantan, Malaysia
NOOR AINIABU SAMAH,MPHARM Pharmacist, Drug Information Unit, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
A retrospective review of the records of drug inquiries received by the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia Drug Information Unit (DIU)was undertaken to provide baseline data for future development of the service. The number of drug inquiries received from 1990 to 1995 ranged from 2 0 4 4 4 7 per year: The quantity and type of inquiries, and the individuals requesting drug-related information, remained relatively constant throughout the six-year period. The majority of inquiries were related directly to patient care, and came from doctors and pharmacists working at the hospital while external inquiries were minimal. Any future plan to promote and expand the service has to consider the expected increase in workload. The increasing dependence on computerized tertiary references when responding to inquiries may indicate the need to use pharmacists’ time optimally. Such systems are expensive to maintain, howevel; especially in a developing country such as Malaysia, thus future funding may depend on the ability of the DIU to justrfy its service. Key Words: Drug information service; Drug inquiries; Teaching hospital; Pharmacists;
Malaysia
INTRODUCTION THE PROVISION OF accurate and timely drug information to health professionals in the course of providing patient care has been recognized as one of the mechanisms to promote effective drug therapy. In Malaysia, drug information practice has developed along a similar trend with the introduction of clinical pharmacy practice (1). Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) is a 570bed teaching hospital serving the School of Medical Sciences, the School of Pharmaceu-
Reprint address: Ab Fatah Ab Rahman, PharmD, Head, Drug Information Unit, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
tical Sciences, and the School of Nursing of the Universiti Sains Malaysia. The Drug Information Unit (DIU) is one of the various clinical pharmacy units of the HUSM’s Pharmacy Department, and is affiliated with the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. It receives financial and technical assistance from the pharmacy school as well as from the Pharmacy Department. Currently, the DIU is staffed by a lecturer from the pharmacy school and one full-time pharmacist from the Pharmacy Department. Apart from handling drug inquiries it also participates in drug use evaluation activities, evaluation of requests for nonformulary drugs, drug reviews for the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee, and adverse drug
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