jrnls.org logo
Submit

BROWSE ALL JOURNALS

SEE ALL 19 JOURNALS
Pharmacy PracticeNOW IN
Article

Associations of gender and age groups on the knowledge and use of drug information resources by American pharmacists

Manuel J. Carvajal1, Kevin A. Clauson1, Jennifer Gershman1, Hyla H. Polen2

  1. 1College of Pharmacy, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States.
  2. 2Unnatural Language Processing, Jupiter, FL, United States.

Received: 07-01-2012; Accepted: 15-06-2013.

Volume 11, Issue 2 · pp. 71–80 · PUBLISHED Apr-Jun 2013 · DOI:

View on PP original site ↗

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To explore knowledge and use of drug information resources by pharmacists and identify patterns influenced by gender and age-group classification. Methods: A survey questionnaire was mailed nationwide to 1,000 practitioners working in community (n = 500) and hospital (n = 500) settings who answer drug information questions as part of their expected job responsibilities. Responses pertaining to drug information resource use and knowledge of different types of drug-related queries, resource media preferences, and perceived adequacy of resources maintained in the pharmacy were analyzed by gender and age group. The t statistic was used to test for significant differences of means and percentages between genders and between age groups. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize other findings. Results: Gender and age group classification influenced patterns of knowledge and use of drug information resources by pharmacists. They also affected pharmacists’ perceptions of the most common types of questions prompting them to consult a drug information reference, as well as the resources consulted. Micromedex, exclusively available in electronic format, was the most commonly consulted resource overall by pharmacists. Lexi-Comp Online was the leading choice by women, preferred over Micromedex, but was not one of the top two resources selected by men. Conclusion: This study successfully identified the influence of gender and age-group classification in assessing drug information resource knowledge and use of general and specific types of drug-related queries.

KEYWORDS

Open in new tab

REFERENCES

As published

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

    Cite this article

    SELECT FORMAT

    Carvajal, M. J., Clauson, K. A., Gershman, J., & Polen, H. H. (2013). Associations of gender and age groups on the knowledge and use of drug information resources by American pharmacists. Pharmacy Practice, 11(2), 71–80.