performance of drug and poison information center within a referral university hospital in southwest of iran

Background: drug and poison information centers (dpics) provide quick, easy, valid and reliable access to medication and toxin information for professionals, health workers and the public. the purpose of this study is to report the services provided by a university hospital dpic within 1 year. methods: this descriptive study reports all scientific questions asked from dpic of “namazi” hospital in shiraz from the september 2016 to the august 2017. the information include the number of questions, the ward that ask the question, the questioner’s profession, the method of asking questions, the method of responding, the type of question, and the resources used to answer them. after extraction of duplicates, data were analyzed by using the excel software. results: the total number of contacts registered during the study period was 485. the most number of questions were received in the june 2017 and the lowest in october 2016. major questions were asked from the health-care team working in namazi hospital and mostly from the nursing group (49.8%). most of the questions (80%) were asked and responses were provided (67.3%) by the telephone device. of all incoming inquiries, drug indication (13.3%), adverse drug reactions (adr) (13.3%), storage (11.8%), and the method of preparation as well as administration (11.7%) were among the most common types of questions. the most frequent ward in asking questions was the pediatric intensive care unit (13%). the most widely used drug information resource to answer questions was the uptodate® (47.5%). conclusion: dpic services in the hospital settings can decrease or prevent adrs as well as medication errors, improve the pattern of medication use, and result in cost saving.