This document discusses different types of drug information resources, including primary, secondary, and tertiary literature. Primary literature consists of original research studies and reports. Secondary literature includes indexing and abstracting services that systematically locate published literature and provide bibliographic citations and abstracts. Tertiary literature contains established drug information compiled from primary sources. When evaluating information sources, factors like author credentials, date, purpose, reliability and credibility should be considered. The internet provides drug information but requires careful evaluation of sources. University/academic websites are generally the most preferred online sources of health information.

1. HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY HIWOT
FANA COMPREHENSIVE SPECIALIZED
HOSPITAL
CLINICAL PHARMACY AND DRUG
AND POISON INFORMATION
SERVICE (DPIS) UNIT
BY SALAHADIN A. (B.PHARM)
1

2. Types of drug information resources
Literatures
2

3. At the end of this session the student will be able to:
• Identify different types of literatures with example
• Discuss advantages and disadvantages of literatures
• Criteria for evaluating drug information from internet
3

4. Three types of drug information literatures
Tertiary
literature
Secondary literature
Primary literature
4

5. A. Primary Literature
• Primary literature forms the foundation of the literature
hierarchy.
• It is the source of information for the development of
secondary and tertiary literature resources.
• Primary literature is comprised of original research that is
written in the author(s) own words.
• It consists of research studies, case reports, editorials,
and letters to the editor.
• Most primary literature contains a detailed description of
the study design, methodology, and scientific result
5

6. • Examples of excellent primary literature resources
include research articles and studies published in the
– New England Journal of Medicine
– Journal of the American Medical Association
– Archives of Internal Medicine
– Annals of Internal Medicine
– Lancet
– British Medical Journal
6

7. Advantages of primary literature:
• Information from primary literature is current,
original
• Many articles undergo review by the author's peers
before an article is accepted for publication,
thereby incorporating unbiased views and
suggestions to improve the quality of the
report(peer-review process)
7

8. Disadvantages of primary literature:
• With any research report, flaws in study
methodology may lead to inaccurate conclusions.
• In assessing the primary literature, knowledge of
scientific methods and statistics is necessary to
properly interpret the information.
• Since the information presented in the primary
literature is so new, it may take time before wide
acceptance occurs throughout the medical
community.
8

9. Using the primary literature
• Be cautious, careful, and conservative when utilizing
new information from a primary literature source.
• Articles published in peer-reviewed journals are
generally better in quality and objectivity than non-
peer reviewed work.
• In utilizing data from primary sources be sure that all
aspects of the primary source are understood
9

10. • To extrapolate primary literature data to a single
patient encounter, make sure the patient population
mentioned or utilized in the primary work
corresponds to your practice population.
• Remember that case reports relate only to one
patient not a whole patient population.
10
Using the primary literature…

11. B. Secondary Literature
• The secondary literature is compiled by indexing and
abstracting services that can be used to systematically
locate various types of published literature.
• Indexing consists of providing bibliographic citation
information (e.g., title, author, and citation of the
article),
• Abstracting also includes a brief description (abstract) of
the information provided by the article or resource cited.
• Examples : PubMed (Medline), Embase, National Library
of Medicine Gateway, International Pharmacy Abstracts,
Scopus, and Toxline, etc.
11

12. Abstracting service
12

13. Indexing service
13

14. Using the secondary literature
• Each database has its own focus, or scope, and collects
primary literature in a certain field about a disease, drug-
information, or literature related to patient care.
• Example: Medline focuses on the biomedical sciences,
Toxline focuses on toxicology,etc
• The databases link you to citations that show you the
author, title of the work, location and date of the
publication and generally, an abstract of the manuscript.
• Sometimes the full text of the article will be available, but
other times you need to get access to the article itself
through a subscription.
14

15. Advantages of secondary literature:
• Provides quick access to the primary literature.
• Provides a broad scope and/or concise information
on specific topics. The information is usually current,
but it depends on the abstracting service
• Generally, the journal sources are peer reviewed and
of a high standard.
15

16. Disadvantages of secondary literature:
• The time period between publication and inclusion (lag
time) into secondary sources can vary for each
database, from days to weeks.
• The number of journals indexed by each system
depends upon the scope of the database
• To obtain useful information, one must utilize specific
search terms and be proficient with a particular
database's search techniques.
16

17. C. Tertiary Literature
• The information presented in tertiary literature is core
knowledge established via primary literature or accepted
as standard of practice within the medical community.
• Drug information contained in the tertiary literature is
generally well-established information
• Tertiary references may be of textbooks on various drug
or disease topics (e.g. Pharmacotherapy), compendia (a
vast array of information about many drugs such as the
Physician's Desk Reference)
• As with any tertiary reference, the information should be
evaluated for bias.
17

18. 18

19. Advantages of tertiary literature:
• Tertiary references are convenient and accessible
• Drug information references may be divided into
specific subjects to make them easier to use.
• For instance, one text may be devoted only to drug
interactions, while another might discuss principles
of pharmacotherapy or use of drugs in pregnancy.
• Usually the information contained in tertiary
literature is well accepted in medical practice.
19

20. Disadvantages of tertiary literature:
• Because of the lag time between when a text was
written and the actual publication date whether in
print or electronically, time passes before the
information is available, and more updated
information may be available in a database.
• Space limitations within a text may prevent extensive
discussion of a drug or topic.
• Authors may present information that is based on a
less than thorough review of the primary literature.
20

21. • The tertiary literature may not be referenced
appropriately.
• If the information presented in the tertiary literature
may based on flawed primary care literature
• updated or new information may need to be inserted
into the printed copy of the tertiary literature in a
timely fashion. This is time consuming, and may not
get accomplished
21

22. Evaluation of Tertiary Literature
• The reader should assess the text for timeliness
• The reader should assess consistency by comparing
information presented in one text to the same
information presented in another text.
• The reader should evaluate the credentials of the
authors/contributors.
• The reader should check the resource’s references,
and whether they are up-to-date.
22

23. 23
3.2 Drug Information on the Internet

24. • The number of patients using the Internet for drug
information is on the rise.
• However, much of the information on the Internet
is unregulated; therefore, prudence is a necessity
prior to making decisions based on this
information.
• Very important thing to consider when using any
information resource for drug and medicine
information on the internet is ……to analyze
whether the information source is convincing,
reliable, up-to-date, and unbiased.
24

25. Responsibilities of Health care providers
• They should be competent in directing patients on
Internet usage
• Should be familiar with the vast array of professional-
based practice-enhancing resources available online.
• Should be able to provide guidance on how to
evaluate them.
• The key is to effectively sort through all of the
available information retrieved and quickly locate
reputable sources.
25

26. When is it most appropriate to use the Internet
source for drug information ?
• When company specific information is necessary, such as
information on pharmaceutical companies, Internet
information is usually readily available.
• Items in the news and current event topics are rapidly
available through the Internet.
• FDA, CDC, WHO is widely and freely available on the
Internet.
• Some information, such as rare diseases, alternative
medicine information.
26

27. What problems might be experienced in using
the Internet for drug and medicine
information?
• Accessing and navigating the Internet can be time
consuming and restraining.
• Not all content distributed over the Internet is useful.
• Many useful sites may charge a fee, or require a
subscription to get the information.
• Some sites require registration to access the use
content
27

28. 28

29. Evaluating drug information from the Internet
1) Who manages this information?
• The person or group that has published health information
online should be identified
• Are the author’s credentials, such as years of experience,
position or education given?
• Is there contact information, such as an email address?
2) Purpose
• Who is paying for the project, and what is their purpose?
You should be able to find this information in the “About Us”
section.
• Who is the intended audience? Scholarly audience or
experts? General public or novices?
• Is the purpose of the site to inform, teach, persuade, or sell a
product?
29

30. The source of funding may be apparent in the suffix of
the Web site address.
– For example, addresses ending in ".gov" are
government-sponsored;
– Ending in ".edu" are sponsored by educational
institutions;
– Those ending in ".org" represent noncommercial
organizations;
– Web site addresses ending in ".com" identify
commercial organizations.
30

31. 31

32. • The top three preferred sources of health
information by both patients and health care
professionals are;
– university/academic–based web sites,
– consumer Web sites sponsored by medical journals or
publications,
– government agency Web sites.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturer web sites are the least
preferred, followed by media-driven and commercial
medical organization–driven consumer sites
32

33. 3) Reliability and Credibility
• Why should anyone believe information from this
site?
• Does the information appear to be valid, well-
researched, and supported by strong scientific
evidence?
• Is there a non-Web equivalent of this material that
would provide a way of verifying it is legitimate?
33

34. 4) Currency
• If timeliness of the information is important, is it kept
up-to-date?
• Is there an indication of when the site was last
updated?
5) inks
• Are links related to the topic and useful to the
purpose of the site?
34

35. Some of Open-Access Drug Information Sources
Available Via the Internet
Web address Sponsor Area covered
www.clinicaitnals.gov National Institutes of
Health
Clinical trial registry
www.ashp.org
www.accp.com
www.amcp.org
American Society of Health
System
Pharmacists
Amercan College of Clinical
Pharmacy
Academy of managed Care
Pharmacy
Pharmacy practice
resources
www.pharmacist.com American Pharmacists
Association
Pharmacy practice
resources
www.emedicine.com Mescape General medicine
www.who.org WHO Guidelines and general
medicine
35

36. Web address Sponsor Area covered
www.merck.com Merck General medicine
www.nccam.nih.gov National Centers for
Complementary and
Alternative Medicine
Herbal and Alternative
Medicine
www.nlm.nih.gov/medline
plus
NIH medicine plus Patient information
www.cochrane.org Cochrane collaboration Evidence based medicine
www.nlm.nih.gov National library of medicine General health and
education: links to
MedlinePlus, AiDSinfo.
PubMed, and others
www.cdc.gov Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
General health and
education
www.fda.gov Food and Drug
Administration
General information on
drugs and biologics 36

37. Reference
• C. R. Kothari, Research Methodology, Methods
and Techniques, 2nd Revised Edition, 2004.
37

38. THANK YOU
38