- Learning Objectives
- Overview
- Multipurpose Resources
- Drug and Natural Products Information Resources
- Study Guide Questions
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lecture (and with some practice outside of class), you will be able to select and use an appropriate tertiary source to answer your drug information questions.
Overview
One challenge you will face is deciding which resource to use first. As you become familiar with the resources and their contents, you will select your own favorites. The web-based tutorial, Rx: Finding Drug Information, can provide you with additional practice on selecting and using tertiary sources.
Consider using the table Resources by Topic as a starting point. This table is organized by commonly requested information and lists both first and second choices for finding that information. The other table, Resource Descriptions lists more information about each tool.
HealthLinks contains a number of collections of electronic materials which you can browse. Contents change over time so checking back frequently is a good idea. These collections include:
- Books@Ovid
- ~12 books with emphasis on nursing needs including laboratory tests and drug information for nurses - National Academy Press collection - full text of key publications from Institute of Medicine, National Research Council, National Academy of Science, and others
- SkolarMD - (currently on trial here)
Designed as a quick response medical knowledge system
- STAT!Ref Medical Library - includes Stedman's Medical Dictionary, AHFS, ICD-9, USP DI for Health Professionals
To find electronic textbooks on HealthLinks click on the red Reference box at the top of the page, then click More textbooks... in the Textbooks section. Limit to Pharmacy and Pharmacology textbooks by making the appropriate selection under Find Textbooks By Specialty then click the Go button.
Multipurpose Resources (provide both disease and drug information)
AccessMedicine -
- Collection of textbooks, clinical practice guidelines, news
- includes
- Goodman & Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 10th ed.
- Harrison's Online
- Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2005
- collection of practice guidelines categorized by disease screening, prevention, and management
- drug monographs provided by Gold Standard (TM)
- includes product images, chemical structures, patient education materials
- patient education handouts on common medical problems provided by Postgraduate Medicine, eg. smoking cessation, motion sickness
MDConsult Core Collection
- Collection of textbooks, journals and news that can be searched individually or all together
- Reference books - ~ 40 medical texts online
- Journal search - 50 full-text journals plus MEDLINE access
- Drug information and updates
- Mosby's Drug Consult, updated annually
- Package insert information with indications, approval dates, off-label uses and, often, cost of therapy information
- Pill images search
- Updates include FDA approvals and new indications, press releases, etc.
- News - summaries of new developments in medicine from journals, conferences and the press, what patients are reading or watching
- Current practice - overviews of "hot topics" and practice guidelines
- Patient handouts - customizable for both diseases and drugs
- Continuing education features (must create personal login)
- Offers both generic (no password or login) and personal access
MedlinePlus
- NLM's database aimed at consumers for health and wellness information
- English and Spanish versions
- Health topics, drug information, dictionaries, interactive tutorials, directories and links to other resources
- Especially good for quick overviews, including statistics, of a topic and illustrations
- Drug information
- MedMaster from ASHP
- USP DI Advice for Patients
- Links to FDA and ClinicalTrials.gov
Micromedex Healthcare Series
- Collection of databases that can be searched individually or all together - contents of collection depends upon your subscription
- DrugDex - includes Drug Consults - drug monographs
- IV Compatibility - physical compatability data from Trissel's Tables
- PoisIndex - includes Identidex - drug identification and poisoning management
- DiseaseDex Emergency Medicine - acute care information, especially useful for ER personnel
- DiseaseDex General Medicine - diagnosis and treatment information
- AltMedDex - monographs on natural products
- Martindale - foreign drugs
- Reprorisk - information important to pregnancy
- TOMES System - occupational exposure and hazard management
- CareNotes - patient information
- Look for other assorted useful bits of information under the tabs
- Use for detailed information about medications (US and foreign) and natural products as well as exposures to chemicals, poisonous animals and plants and toxins
- Updated quarterly - check the date of your monograph
- Lengthy bibliographies
- mobileMicromedex - Micromedex for the handheld
- Instructions for citing under Warranties & Disclaimers link
UpToDate
- Evidence-based electronic textbook of medicine
- Lexi-Interact Drug Interactions program from Lexi-Comp for drug interactions
- Links from drug names to Lexi-Comp drug information within monographs
- Updated quarterly - look at date on monograph
- Provides recommendations for good practice
- Graphs and tables that may be exported to personal documents
Drug and Natural Products Information Resources
Facts & Comparisons
- Collection of resources that can be searched individually or all together
- A to Z Drug Facts
- Drug Facts & Comparisons
- Nonprescription Drug therapy
- Drug Interaction Facts
- Herbal Interaction Facts
- Review of Natural Products
- MedFacts Patient Information
- Manufacturer Index
- Drug Identifier - includes photos
- Print version has been gold standard for drug information for years
- Includes comparison tables for drugs by class or pharmacological action
- In genereal, references are included in the Drug Interactions section and at drug class monographs but not at individual drug monographs
Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
- Comprehensive, evidence-based information about herbal and dietary supplements used in the US and Canada
- Produced by publishers of Prescribers' Letter and Physicians' Letter
- Many products have patient handouts
- Updated daily
- Several entry points
- product or common name
- scientific name
- people use this for
- safety
- effectiveness
- interactions with foods, herbs, dietary supplements, lab tests, diseases or conditions
- typical dosage and routes of administration
- lists of ingredients for brandnames
- mechanism of action
- adverse reactions
Natural Standard Online
- Evidence-based monographs, on herbs, dietary supplements and complementary therapies
- Produced by an international research collaboration, originally out of Harvard
- Both patient-oriented and professional-oriented monographs available; some reports only available by purchase
- Evidence presented in a graded format to designate the quality of the information
- Searchable or browsable by name under three sections
- Herbs & supplements
- Conditions
- Alternative modalities
- PDA version not available under our license
PDA Resources
Several pda resources are available to you while you are students at the UW. Free registration required.- Medical
- Unbound Central - Portal to multiple reources (Unbound Surgery, Harrison's Manual of Medicine, Pocket ICU Management, and the Manual of Anesthesia Practice). Allows logging keywords to be searched in PubMed upon syncing. Individual registration required. Desktop version available.
- InfoRetriever - filtered, summarized, evidence-based information; includes InfoPOEMs and guidelines, clinical rules and calculators, 5-Minute Clinical Consult, etc. Desktop version available. [12.9MB Palm, 13.7MB PocketPC]
- Unbound Central
- Drug
- mobileMicromedex - Acute Care Information, Drug Information, Toxicology Information. Full desktop version available [5MB Palm, 6.5MB PocketPC]
- Mosby's Drug Consult - part of Pocket Consult download from MD Consult. Full desktop version available. [1.6MB PocketPC]
- ePocrates - 3,300 brand and generic drugs, drug interaction checker. [for the free download 4.3MB Palm, 3MB PocketPC]
- mobileMicromedex
- Readings
- Galt KA, Rule AM, Houghton B et al. Personal digital assistant-based drug information sources: potential to improve medication safety. J Med Libr Assoc 2005; 93 (2):229-36.
- Barrons R. Evaluation of personal digital assistant software for drug interactions. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2004; 61 (4):380-5.
- Oh RC. An easy way to evaluate software for your PDA. Fam Pract Manag 2005; 12 (6):67, 71.
Study Guide Questions
Here are some questions you can try to answer using the resources described. Think about which resource to use first. Then, where would you go next?
Where can you find the full text of the report "Forging a poison prevention and control system?"
Is it safe for my diabetic patient to take warfarin and fenugreek at the same time?
Can you point your neighbor with a child recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome to a source of information or a support group?
When was Vioxx pulled from the market ?
Where can you find a comparison of the pharmacokinetics of various statins?.
On ER last season, one of the medical students was asked which antibiotics to prescribe for an open hand fracture. Which antibiotics should he/she prescribe?
Did you read article in the paper about the new reflexology path at Bastyr? What is reflexology anyway?
Additional References
- Malone, Patrick et al. Drug information: a guide for pharmacists. 2d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill 1996.
- Snow, Bonnie. Drug information: a guide to current resources. 2d ed. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1999.
http://healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/liaisons/rich/pharm309.html