The Slovak Drug Information (Druginfo) Centre during the period 1997-2004.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the profile of users, the number and character of questions which were received during the period May 1997-December 2004.


BACKGROUND
The drug information centre (Druginfo) has been established in Slovak Republic at the Department of Pharmacology in May 1997. Since 2002 Druginfo is a member of International Register of Drug Information Services of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. Druginfo provides voluntarily free of charge drug information for healthcare professionals.


METHODS
Druginfo receives questions addressed via phone, fax and e-mail. The questions were replied by consulting pharmacologists on duty. The data for this study were obtained from records which include list the received questions and the basic information about the questioners.


RESULTS
The Druginfo received 495 questions during the period May 1997-December 2004. Questions were mostly from hospital physicians, followed by outpatient physicians and employees of the Faculty of Medicine. The most frequent specializations of the asking physicians were internal medicine, gynaecology-obstetrics, clinical pharmacology and general medicine. The most common topic was basic information about drugs, followed by questions concerning the use of drugs in pregnancy and lactation. According to the ATC classification the questions were most often related to antiinfective drugs, cardiovascular drugs and psychiatric drugs.


CONCLUSIONS
The existence of Druginfo in Slovak Republic represents a possibility of an open access to independent drug information. (Fig. 3, Ref. 11.)
Wawruch
M
M
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Bozekova
L
L
Tisonova
J
J
Raganova
A
A
Lassanova
M
M
Hudec
R
R
Vojtko
R
R
Gazova
A
A
Kriska
M
M
D004346:Drug Information Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D018154:Slovakia