Identification and physicians' views of their commonly-used drug information sources in Singapore

Abstract

Aim To examine physicians' use and views of various sources for general drug information and to determine the kind of drug-related questions they receive. Method An online survey of general practitioners who were Singapore Medical Association members was conducted. The survey consisted of questions about the physicians' demographics, the drug information source they used most often, their opinions on the information from that source, and the types of drug-related questions they received from patients. Results Among the 236 physicians who responded to the survey, 58.1% used reference texts most frequently; of these respondents, 80.3% used the Monthly Index of Medical Specialties. Only 4.2% most often go to pharmacists for drug information. Of the 75 (31.8%) respondents who chose online sources, about half used Google while the remainder used specific websites. Most respondents rated drug information from reference texts as somewhat comprehensive (71.5%) and usually reliable (81.8%). The choice of drug information sources was associated with physicians' age, place of practice, access to the Internet, and clinical experience (P