Regional drug information service

Background: Drug information centers (DICs) were established in Europe more than two decades ago. The majority of German DICs were created in the 90s. The regional University hospital-based DIG, which offers services to physi cans, is now in operation for three and a half years. Objective: To evaluat e the types of enquiries received and the profile of the users of a drug in formation service. Methods: The working procedure at a regional center in D resden, Germany, is described. The topics for consultation (adverse reactio ns, pharmacokinetics, etc.) are presented, and the types of drugs involved are classified according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical. (ATC) clas sification. Users are grouped by medical specialty. Future plans for the DI C are discussed. Results: A total of 516 enquiries were received. Questions concerning therapeutic use (34%), adverse drug reactions (28%), pregnancy/ lactation (16%), and pharmacokinetics/dosage (15%) were asked most frequent ly. Cardiovascular drugs (20%), systemic antiinfectives (19%) as well as dr ugs targeting the central nervous system (15%) and alimentation/metabolism (9%) were the predominant foci of enquiries. The major users of the DIC wer e internists (19%), general practitioners (19%), pediatricians (18%), and g ynecologists (11%). Conclusions: The types of questions and users of this s ervice were generally similar to those recorded at many other European DICs . The service has begun producing educational bulletins on drug-related top ics of clinical relevance.