711 likes | 2k Views
Drug Information Resources. Ch.#4. Generally, the best method to find drug-related information includes a stepwise approach moving first through: -Tertiary References then - Secondary References and finally - Primary References .
E N D
Generally, the best method to find drug-related information includes a stepwise approach moving first through: -Tertiary References then - Secondary References and finally - Primary References
Often, search for DI may not require the use of all three types of resources. • For example: -The type of request or-The type of requester may influence the type of resource that need to be used
Tertiary Resources: ( General or Specialized ) **Provide general info. to familiarize the reader with the topic. Examples: -Textbooks -Full-text databases -Review Articles -Compendia -Other general info. found on internet
** If info. is not available, not recent or comprehensive, use secondary to review the primary sources. Advantages of Tertiary Sources: • Convenient • Easy to use • Familiar to most practitioners • Less costly
Major Drawbacks of Tertiary Sources: • Lag time associated with publication. • Information may be incomplete. • Errors in transcription. • Human bias. • Incorrect interpretation of information. • Lack of expertise by authors.
Evaluation of Tertiary Literature: • Does the author have appropriate experience/expertise to publish in this area? • Is the information likely to be timely based on publication date? • Is the information supported by appropriate citations? • Does the resource contain relevant information & appear free from bias & errors.
Which Tertiary Resources Should be Available at a Specific Practice Site? • Differences in practice settings. • Available funding. • Patients seen. • Types of information most commonly needed. • Categories of requests received in a particular practice setting. Examples: see table 4-2 p. 64-65
Secondary References: (IOWA, PubMed, IPA) ** Databases used for directing user to primary literature. **Either: -index or -abstract from journals, meetings, or publications. *Indexing: provide bibliographic citation information *Abstracting: brief description of the information provided by article. * Majority available in electronic format.
Advantages of Electronic databases(over print listings): • Online listings--->More frequent updating 2. In most electronic searching, users follow a similar strategy. • Challenges: • Systems do not index all terms in the same manner ( some have thesaurus ). 2. Most computerized databases include a free-text-search option, which is useful when only limited data are available .
Characteristics of the Print Format: • Less costly. • More timely. • Used by one user at a time. • Could be browsed for new information.
** Different databases may require different search terms to be used. ** It is important to identify key terms. ** Searches usually use Boolean Operators. Boolean Operators: • AND • OR • NOT
AND:**Combines two terms returning only citations containing both concepts or terms. • OR: **Will have an equal or greater number of returns than a search using AND. **It will include any citation where either term is used. **Useful when searching for a term with synonyms. 3. NOT: **Will reduce the number of responses by eliminating any references having the term that follows the operator NOT. **Should be used with caution, it may exclude certain topics.
Some databases allow searches to be limited by a variety of factors, including: • Language of publication. • Year of publication. • Type of article ( review, case report, …) • Type of journal where publication is found. **Most helpful when initial search return a large number of possible matches.
Primary Literature: ** Clinical Research Studies & Reports ( Published & Unpublished ) **Include: - Controlled Trials - Cohort Studies - Case Series - Case Reports
Advantages of Primary Literature: • Access to detailed information about a topic. • The ability to personally assess the utility & validity of study results. • More recent than tertiary or secondary literature.
Disadvantages of Using Primary Literature Alone: • Misleading conclusions based on only one trial. • The need to have good skills in medical literature evaluation. • The time needed to evaluate the large volume of literature available.
Each practice setting requires different primary literature based on specific areas important to the facility. • Obtaining the Primary Literature: • Local library • Some publishers & websites • National library of medicine • Ordered from the secondary database (i.e. PubMed)