Abstract:
Background. Community pharmacists are in a key position to provide information on drugs and thus promote the rational use
of drugs. Objectives. The present study was designed to determine the needs and resources of drug information in community
pharmacies. Methods. A prospective institution based cross-sectional study was carried out and data were collected on 48
community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, using interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Results. Almost
all pharmacists (𝑁 = 47, 97.9%) often receive drug related queries and these were mainly from consumers (𝑁 = 41, 85.4%).While
most questions relate to drug price (𝑁 = 29, 60.4%) and dosage (𝑁 = 21, 43.8%), the information resources mainly referred to were
drug package inserts and national standard treatment guidelines. However, limited availability of information resources as well as
limited ability to retrieve relevant information influenced the practice of pharmacists. Female pharmacists claimed better use of
different information resources than males (𝑃 < 0.05). Conclusions. Community pharmacists in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, are
often accessed for drug related information. But there are limitations in using up to date and most reliable resources. Therefore,
intervention aimed at improving pharmacists’ access to and evaluation of drug information is urgently needed.
