Drug information resources used by nurse practitioners and collaborating physicians at the point of care in Nova Scotia, Canada: a survey and review of the literature

Table 7 Mean frequency of specific drug information queries searched on a weekly basis (frequently = 1, infrequently = 2, never = 3).

Category	Frequency mean	SD
Side effects	1.56	0.75
Adult or usual drug dosage	1.67	0.68
Most appropriate drug for indication	1.78	0.85
Drug interactions	1.81	0.79
Geriatric drug dosage	1.85	0.72
Information on new drugs	1.89	0.80
Pediatric drug dosage	1.96	0.71
Dosage forms (e.g. liquid)	1.96	0.76
Length of therapy	1.96	0.81
Indications	2.00	0.78
Dosage adjustment in organ dysfunction (e.g. renal)	2.07	0.73
Drug use in pregnancy and/or lactation	2.11	0.75
Pharmacokinetics (e.g. half-life, metabolism, excretion)	2.11	0.80
Non-prescription/Over the counter drug information	2.15	0.60
Herbal therapy information	2.19	0.62
Mechanism of action	2.19	0.68
Identification of drugs	2.27	0.67
Cost of drugs	2.27	0.83
New indication(s) for older drugs	2.33	0.62
Monitoring (e.g. phenytoin levels, bloodwork frequency)	2.33	0.68
Toxicology/treatment of overdose or poisoning	2.37	0.63
Formulary status (e.g. Nova Scotia Formulary)	2.41	0.69
Criteria for formulary exceptions status	2.42	0.76
Non-medicinal content of drugs (e.g. dyes)	2.56	0.51

ISSN: 1472-6955