Dietary supplement survey of pharmacists: personal and professional practices.
OBJECTIVE
To survey pharmacists about personal/professional practices regarding dietary supplements, specifically personal use and recommendation patterns, reference usage, and desired computerized decision-support features.


METHODS
Anonymous, self-administered survey.


METHODS
National pharmacy association meeting.


METHODS
Practicing pharmacists who answered questions about dietary supplements.


METHODS
Acceptability of specific references, desired features in computerized decision support, frequency of personal use, and recommendations to patients, family, or friends.


RESULTS
Seventy (70) pharmacists completed the survey. A majority (52.9%) reported taking dietary supplements including echinacea, zinc, and chromium picolinate. Fewer than half of pharmacists stated they have recommended a dietary supplement to a patient. Pharmacists stated that the top information sources were: published clinical trials, allopathic health care providers, alternative medicine practitioners, and word of mouth. The Internet was an important source for recommendations although not for personal use. The most highly accepted (>70%) print references included The Review of Natural Products and the World Health Organization Monographs on Selected Herbal Products. More than 90% rates the ability to view reference citations and computerized alerts on drug-dietary supplement interactions "very important" or "important". Interest was high in accessing computerized monographs.


CONCLUSIONS
Pharmacists are self-educating about dietary supplements. Among pharmacists surveyed, there was some consensus as to which references were acceptable. There is a demand for dietary supplements information to be included in pharmacy computer systems, specifically to check for interactions against the patient's.drug profile. Although practitioners in Western and alternative medicine, as well as journal articles, are preferred information sources, the Internet and word of mouth are also important sources. Personal use of dietary supplements correlated with a twofold increase in the likelihood that a pharmacist would recommend a dietary supplement to a patient.
Howard
N
N
PharmaCole Drug Information Services, San Francisco, CA, USA. nhoward@pharmacole.com
Tsourounis
C
C
Kapusnik-Uner
J
J
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000592:standards; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000592:standards*; D010595:Pharmacists; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
D004366:Nonprescription Drugs