title: Chest physicians' and microbiologists' awareness and demand for drug monitoring in the treatment of TB.
abstract: There is a role for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to achieve the optimum therapeutic concentration of anti-tuberculous drugs. This work aimed to determine the current awareness of TDM in TB control among chest physicians and to estimate the demand for this service. Responses from a sample of chest physicians in the West Midlands revealed that 60% were aware of TDM and 33% had used it. Responses were received from half of a UK group of microbiologists who reported a median of nine requests in the past year. It appeared that more was known about services for rifampicin and streptomycin than other first-line drugs. There appears to be a need for both increased awareness among potential service users and for coordination of assay services.
authors.affiliation: Birmingham PHLS, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. shalini@pooransingh.freeserve.co.uk
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pooransingh
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Innes
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001364:Awareness; D002983:Clinical Competence; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008829:Microbiology / Q000458:organization & administration; D010349:Patient Compliance; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018088:Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents