2018 Volume 19 Issue 4 Pages 180-187
Objective: The clinical literature review is an important and required components in most of the US pharmacy school curriculum. On the other hand, in Japan, pharmacy students usually read basic literature when research assignments are given. However, in Japan, one is rarely taught how to critically read clinical literature in class. Therefore, for the purpose of examining whether or not lectures regarding how to critically read clinical literature will affect collecting new drug information in pharmacy practice, we examined a survey which we circulated in both countries. The survey asks pharmacists about reading clinical literature.
Methods: One thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven pharmacists in Miyagi in Japan were given questionnaires by mail and 18,744 pharmacists in Florida in the US were given the URL of a web questionnaire by email.
Results: Response rates in Miyagi and Florida were 30.3% and 0.91%, respectively. Since the response in Florida was so small, statistical analysis was not performed. Regarding the question of “Do you HABITUALLY read clinical literature ?,” “Yes” in Miyagi and Florida was 14.7% and 71.9%, respectively. Regarding the question of “To what extent did you learn how to critically read clinical literature when you were a student-pharmacist ? ” (1: Not at all, 7: Yes), medians in Miyagi and Florida were “1” and “5,” respectively. Regarding the question of “To what extent do you apply the information you obtain from clinical literature to your daily responsibilities ? ” (1: Not at all, 7: Yes), medians in Miyagi and Florida were “2” and “5,” respectively.
Conclusions: We conclude that Japanese pharmacists in clinical practice do not sufficiently utilize drug information from new clinical literature because pharmacy education in Japan did not, until very recently at least, teach how to critically read clinical literature in class.
