Evidence map›Paper›PMID 15040790›Full record

ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2003

Providing evidence-based information to patients in general practice and pharmacies: what is the acceptability, usefulness and impact on drug use?

James P McCormack, Lisa Dolovich, Mitch Levine, Sheri Burns, Kalpana Nair, Alan Cassels, Karen Mann, Jean Gray

Abstract readEvaluation StudyMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Written information about individual medicines for consumers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009
    Pooled it
  2. Pharmacogenetic information for patients on drug labels.Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine · 2014
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

James P McCormackFaculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. jmccorma@interchange.ubc.edu
Lisa Dolovich
Mitch Levine
Sheri Burns
Kalpana Nair
Alan Cassels
Karen Mann
Jean Gray

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA common and often integral method of delivering patient information is the use of patient guides. However, the acceptability, utility and impact of evidence-based therapeutic guides on physicians, pharmacists and patients have not been well evaluated.

methodsThis study was a prospective evaluation of 53 general practitioners' offices and 30 community pharmacies from three locations in Canada. Evidence-based guides were provided to 1176 patients who presented to either a general practitioner or a community pharmacist and were interested in receiving information about sore throat, heartburn, or osteoporosis (http://www.ti.ubc.ca/canadadrugguide). The acceptability, utility and impact of the guides were assessed via structured patient telephone interviews, structured health professional interviews, and patient chart audits.

resultsEighty to 90% of patients reported that the guides were 'very easy' to understand. Fifty six per cent/47%/38% (sore throat/heartburn/osteoporosis) of patients rated the guides as 'very' or 'extremely' useful. Seventy-two per cent/67%/58% of respondents reported that the information helped them make decisions about their treatment. Ninety eight per cent of physicians and 92% of pharmacists reported that the guides helped their patients understand the issues involved in their treatment. None of the analyses showed any significant differences in prescribing of medications between the intervention and control groups. INTERPRETATIONS: Patients found these evidence-based guides to be useful, easy to understand, and that they helped them in their understanding of treatment options and the decision-making process. Physicians and pharmacists reported that the guides helped their patients understand the issues involved in their treatment. Further research is required to determine the degree to which providing evidence-based guides to patients can impact on prescribing and patient outcomes.

Indexed as

Community Pharmacy ServicesDrug TherapyFamily PracticePractice Guidelines as TopicAdultBritish ColumbiaDecision MakingFemaleHeartburnHumansMaleMedical AuditMiddle AgedMultivariate AnalysisNova ScotiaOntario

Identifiers

PMID15040790
PMCPMC5060203

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.