During the study period, Drug Information queries were collected and organized based on various parameters.

A total of 383 queries were received at the drug information center between February 2022 and May 2022. The highest number of queries, 180 (46.99%), was received in April, followed by May with 96 (25.06%), February with 63 (16.45%), and March with 44 (11.48%). A verbal discussion was conducted through one-to-one interactions with healthcare professionals, resulting in a notable increase in query submissions. This trend aligns with findings from studies by Mohammed et al. and Sapan Kumar Behera et al (Tables 1 and 2).

The majority of queries were obtained during ward rounds, accounting for 177 (46.2%). Other modes included direct access with 159 (41.5%) queries and telephone with 47 (12.3%). Direct access was the second most common mode, consistent with findings from Peter et al.

Among the queries, 171 (44.6%) were from males, and 212 (55.4%) were from females.9,12,13

Among the received queries, the majority (23.8%) came from patients, followed by CP interns (15.1%) and nurses (11.5%). Physicians (6.8%), DMOs (5.2%), clinical research department (4.4%), DNB interns (3.9%), and clinical pharmacists (3.9%) also contributed. The least queries originated from residents (2.3%), researchers, and pulmonologists (1.8%), dieticians, general surgery (1.6%), physiotherapists (1.3%), surgeons (1.3%), physician assistants (0.5%), and chief consultant (0.3%).

While one of the primary purposes of Drug Information Services (DIS) is to enhance patient care, more queries were related to knowledge updates (236 or 61.61%) than to improving patient care (147 or 38.38%), aligning with previous findings by Vijayakumar TM et al. and Kumar S V et al.14,15

During the study, a subset of queries required immediate responses (10 or 2.6%), and 60 (15.7%) needed responses within 30 min. This underscores the crucial role of DIS, administered by clinical pharmacists, in prompt patient care, as also observed in studies by Jayasudha J et al. and Bhavsar R et al.16,17

Responses to queries were primarily conveyed through WhatsApp (246 or 64.22%), followed by verbal communication (72 or 18.79%), a combination of WhatsApp and verbal (41 or 10.70%), email (19 or 4.96%), and a combination of email and verbal (5 or 1.30%), in line with the approach adopted by Mohan P Joshi.7

Among health care professionals most of the queries were received from the Gastroenterology department 79(20.62%), followed by the General Medicine Department 63(16.44%), and the least was received from the Ophthalmology department 1(0.26%) as the same was reported by Venkatraghavan et al.18

Our prospective analysis illustrated that most of the queries were asked regarding education 115 (26.74%) and the least were regarding availability/cost 2 (0.46%). The previously categorized “others” queries (60 or 13.95%) were reclassified as follows:

Unclassified: 17 (10.2%), Complications: 9 (9.2%), Diagnosis: 9 (9.2%), Causes: 7 (4.2%) Categories (Compatibility, Factors): 3 (1.8%), Categories (Risk Factors, Causes/Risk Factors, IV Dilutions, Guidelines): 2 (1.2%), Treatment Goals, Signs and Symptoms, Newer Drugs, Clinical Presentation: 1 (0.6%).