BHS Pharmacology and Medication Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What term describes the study of how a drug moves through the body, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion?
- Pharmacodynamics
- Pharmacokinetics (Correct answer)
- Pharmacogenomics
- Pharmacoepidemiology
Correct answer: Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetics (ADME) describes what the body does to a drug, whereas pharmacodynamics describes what the drug does to the body.
Question 2: Which phase of clinical drug trials first tests a new medication in human volunteers primarily to assess safety and dosage?
- Phase I (Correct answer)
- Phase II
- Phase III
- Phase IV
Correct answer: Phase I
Phase I trials enroll a small number of healthy volunteers to evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and maximum tolerated dose.
Question 3: A drug's 'half-life' refers to:
- The time for a drug to reach peak plasma concentration
- The time for the plasma concentration of a drug to decrease by 50% (Correct answer)
- The duration of therapeutic effect
- The time required for complete drug absorption
Correct answer: The time for the plasma concentration of a drug to decrease by 50%
Half-life (t½) is the time it takes for the concentration of a drug in the bloodstream to fall to half its original value.
Question 4: Which federal agency is responsible for approving new drugs for sale in the United States?
- CDC
- DEA
- FDA (Correct answer)
- NIH
Correct answer: FDA
The FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) evaluates new drug applications and approves medications as safe and effective.
Question 5: What is the therapeutic index (TI) of a drug?
- The dose that produces a therapeutic effect in 50% of the population
- The ratio between the toxic dose and the effective dose, indicating the drug's safety margin (Correct answer)
- The time to reach maximum plasma concentration
- The proportion of patients who respond to treatment
Correct answer: The ratio between the toxic dose and the effective dose, indicating the drug's safety margin
The therapeutic index (TI = TD50/ED50) quantifies the safety margin of a drug; a narrow TI means toxicity occurs close to the effective dose.
Question 6: In medication management, polypharmacy most commonly refers to:
- The simultaneous use of multiple pharmacies
- The concurrent use of five or more medications, often in older adults (Correct answer)
- The prescribing of brand-name drugs over generics
- The use of medications from multiple drug classes for one condition
Correct answer: The concurrent use of five or more medications, often in older adults
Polypharmacy, typically defined as taking five or more medications, increases the risk of drug interactions and adverse events, especially in elderly patients.
BHS Pharmacology and Medication Management 1
What term describes the study of how a drug moves through the body, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion?