Need for Customized Evidence-Based Information Sources for Pharmacists
Most of the web-based information resources consisted of tertiary literature in the form of nonscientific pharmacy journals of varying quality and timeliness. Some information resources were 20 years old. Despite its simple nature as a document-oriented database, the majority of participants using the EVInews database “agreed fully” (41/58, 71%) in contrast to the web group (11/44, 25%) that they were able to find the desired information. Users need to sign in before accessing the EVInews database. The login with a username and password is comparable to other information platforms of this kind. This may be regarded as an obstacle to the database’s usage for everyday practice. However, when customers or other health professionals seek evidence-based advice related to OTC products, pharmacists may often not be able to immediately provide all the necessary information anyways. These cases require a search for external evidence under everyday conditions such as simulated in our study. The ability to find the desired information when confronted with such a search task is therefore of great importance and even greater importance than retrieval speed from our point of view. Nonetheless, it remains unknown how much low-quality sources impact the overall consultation quality. Furthermore, the dropout rate was greater in the web group. Only 22 participants within the web group in comparison with 46 within the EVInews group completed the entire search task and verified all 6 health-related statements.Although the information retrieval times did not differ significantly, the participant’s search results under everyday practice conditions clearly did. An implication of this is the possibility that the participants were simply overwhelmed with the search task because they lacked the necessary search skills and therefore did not complete it fully. Subsequently, this leads to the question: what information do pharmacists rely on when selling OTC products if they cannot find it? These data may furthermore suggest that there is a need for training on how to find and appraise evidence as well as evidence-based information sources for community pharmacists. Because a lack of information sources and search skills is a common barrier to the implementation of EbPharm, information tools may help reduce the evidence-to-practice gap. The EVInews database fulfilled a majority of the standard quality requirements. Once further adjusted, it may be a promising electronic information tool for community pharmacists for evidence-based counseling.