Canadian pharmacy students' knowledge of herbal medicine

OBJECTIVE

To determine fourth-year Canadian pharmacy students' knowledge of herbal medicine and whether that knowledge is associated with mandatory instruction in herbal medicine.

METHODS

Standardized multiple-choice tests assessing students' herbal knowledge were distributed to all fourth-year BSc pharmacy students at 5 pharmacy schools in Canada.

RESULTS

The Quebec response rate was too low to include in the analysis. Herbal knowledge test scores were positively associated with having previously taken an herbal medicine class and completion of a pharmacy practicum. However, postsecondary education, age, and gender were not associated with herbal knowledge test scores. Students at the University of British Columbia had the highest score, followed by Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.

CONCLUSION

Pharmacy students' knowledge of herbal medicine varies depending on the school attended and higher herbal knowledge test scores appear to be most closely related to mandatory herbal instruction.

Evaluation of the ability of seven herbal resources to answer questions about herbal products asked in drug information centers

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the ability of seven widely known herbal references and electronic databases to answer questions about herbal products asked at drug information centers.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Five academic and institutional drug information centers.

METHODS

Fifty-seven herbal-related questions were obtained from academic and institutional drug information centers. Seven herbal references and electronic databases were evaluated for their ability to answer these 57 questions: The Complete German Commission E Monographs: Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines, 1st edition; Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) for Herbal Medicines, 2001 edition; Tyler's Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies, 4th edition; The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, 2001; Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (electronically updated, 2001); The Natural Pharmacist (electronically updated, 2001); and AltMedDex (electronically updated, 2001).

RESULTS

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database outperformed all other products evaluated, providing direct answers to 61% of questions. AltMedDex and The Natural Pharmacist performed similarly to one another, answering 49% and 44% of questions, respectively. The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, PDR for Herbal Medicines, The Complete German Commission E Monographs, and Tyler's Honest Herbal were the least helpful in providing direct answers to the questions (24%, 21%, 11%, and 9%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, AltMedDex, and The Natural Pharmacist outperformed all other evaluated herbal references and electronic databases in their ability to answer questions about herbal products posed in clinical practice.