Education and Assessment of Pharmacists on the Use of the Drug Burden Index in Older Adults Using a Continuing Professional Development Education Method.
Objective. To educate pharmacists and assess their knowledge of and ability to calculate the Drug Burden Index (DBI) using a continuing professional development (CPD) intervention. Methods. The intervention included designing education surrounding the DBI and its application in practice and assessing knowledge in the form of a CPD education article with four multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Deidentified demographic data on participants were collected. Results. Multiple-choice questions were completed by 2522 pharmacist participants: 97.9% of participants successfully completed the CPD assessment (answered three or four MCQs correctly), and 76.5% of participants achieved a perfect score (answered four MCQs correctly). The question that required calculation of the DBI for a fictional patient was answered correctly least often (81.8%). Conclusion. Pharmacist participants had good knowledge of using DBI in practice; difficulty was observed in calculating the DBI for a hypothetical patient. This CPD intervention provided a practical medium for educating and assessing pharmacists' knowledge of the DBI.
Departments of Clinical Pharmacology and Aged Care, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia; Sydney Medical School - Northern, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Lisa
L
Kouladjian
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Timothy F
TF
Chen
Departments of Clinical Pharmacology and Aged Care, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia; Sydney Medical School - Northern, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Danijela
D
Gnjidic
Departments of Clinical Pharmacology and Aged Care, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Northern Sydney Local Health District, St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia; Sydney Medical School - Northern, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Sarah N
SN
Hilmer
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004513:Education, Pharmacy, Continuing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000592:standards*; D019338:Polypharmacy
Drug Burden Index; continuing professional development; education; older adults; pharmacists; polypharmacy