Key articles and guidelines for the pediatric clinical pharmacist from 2019 and 2020

Abstract

Purpose To summarize recently published research reports and practice guidelines deemed to be significantly impactful for pediatric pharmacy practice. Summary Our author group was composed of 8 board-certified pediatric pharmacists. Eight major themes were identified: critical care, hematology/oncology, medication safety, general pediatrics, infectious diseases, neurology/psychiatry, gastrointestinal/nutrition, and neonatology. The author group was assigned a specific theme(s) based on their practice expertise and were asked to identify articles using MEDLINE and/or searches of relevant journal articles pertaining to each theme that were published from January 2019 through December 2020 that they felt were “significant” for pediatric pharmacy practice. A final list of compiled articles was distributed to the authors, and an article was considered significant if it received a vote from 5 of the 8 authors. Thirty-two articles, including 16 clinical practice guidelines or position statements and 16 review or primary literature articles, were included in this review. For each of these articles, a narrative regarding its implications for pediatric pharmacy practice is provided. Conclusion Given the heterogeneity of pediatric patients, it is difficult for pediatric pharmacists to stay up to date with the most recent literature, especially in practice areas outside their main expertise. Over the last few years, there has been a significant number of publications impacting the practice of pediatric pharmacists. This review of articles that have significantly affected pediatric pharmacy practice may be helpful in staying up to date on key articles in the literature.

Critical Appraisal Tools to Aid Pharmacists in Evidence-Based Practice: A Narrative Review

“…6 Systematic reviews are rich resources to gain rapid insight into specific health-related questions in a single document, and they are the pinnacle of evidence synthesis used to create and update guidelines for clinical pharmacists. 7 Critical appraisal involves interpreting information in a systematic and objective manner. Critical appraisal tools for all types of research methodologies (e.g., case-control studies, observational studies, RCTs) have been developed for quality appraisal of the literature in a formal and systematic process, each with study-specific applicability.…”