Multiple Choice Questions

Test your understanding with these multiple choice questions:

1. Match the correct definitions to the description: pharmacodynamics / pharmacokinetics

The study of how the drug works on the body and causes their affects: ______     

The study of how the body processes the drugs and its movement around the body: _____          

Ans: pharmacodynamics / pharmacokinetics

2. In regard to the regulation of medications, what do the following abbreviations stand for?

GSL: ______

P: ______

OTC: ______ 

POM: ______

Ans: general sales list; pharmacy; over-the-counter; prescription only medicine

GSL medications can be sold without the supervision of a pharmacist and are often available in supermarkets, local shops etc. POMs can only be dispensed by a pharmacist in a registered pharmacy with a valid prescription from a registered prescriber.

3. Which one of the following health practitioners is not able to obtain independent prescriber status?

a. nurses

b. occupational therapists

c. physiotherapists

d. paramedics

Ans: B

Nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics are eligible to undertake prescriber training and become registered to prescribe medication; however, they must be trained to assess and diagnose disease and prescribe within their competence.

4. Complete the missing words from this paragraph describing the processes of pharmacokinetics:

Pharmacokinetics is concerned with what our body does to a drug. Firstly the drug must move from where it was administered into the bloodstream, this process is called ______. Once in the bloodstream, the drug is dissolved into the plasma and moved around the body to the site it is required, called ______. ______ describes the process where the drug is converted into a form which may be more or less active or a form which is excreted readily. Eventually, the drug is removed from the body via ______.

Ans: absorption; distribution; metabolism; excretion

5. What process reduces the proportion of active drug available in the circulation?

a. bioavailability

b. lock and key mechanism

c. churning

d. first pass metabolism

Ans: D

As some medications enter the circulation and pass through the liver, the drug is converted to inactive molecules which result in a smaller amount of active drug being available. This is an important consideration when prescribing drug doses by different routes.

6. Which of the following routes of administration do not bypass the first pass metabolism?

a. intravenous

b. nasogastric tube

c. sublingual

d. topical

Ans: B

Enteral medications normally undergo the first pass metabolism. Parenteral routes normally involve the drug entering the blood stream directly and therefore miss the first pass mechanism.

7. Drugs can stimulate receptors on cells to regulate the cellular activity; these are known as agonists and antagonists. Which description matches the right word?

A drug that binds to a receptor to activate the cell to produce a response: ______

A drug that binds to a receptor to stop activation of the cell to produce a response: ______

Ans: agonist; antagonist

8. If a drug has a ‘small therapeutic index’ what does this mean?

a. A bigger dose is required to get the drug affect.

b. The drug is not effective.

c. There is little difference between the dose for the right affect and the dose to be toxic.

d. There is a big different between the dose for the right affect and the dose to be toxic.

Ans: C

A small therapeutic index means that the amount of drug required to get the affect is very close to the amount of drug required to become toxic/poisonous or overdose.

9. When administering medications to a patient, which of the following is the unsafe practice?

a. signing the drug chart after administration

b. administering a drug prepared by another nurse

c. asking the patient if they have any allergies

d. checking the expiry date of the medication

Ans: B

A nurse should never give a medication that has been prepared by another nurse or clinician, particularly if they haven’t been involved in the entire process of checking and preparation.

10. Which of the following two are often taken by patients which can have a profound effect on their prescribed medications?

a. vitamin C

b. St John’s wort

c. omega-3 oil

d. grapefruit juice

Ans: B and D

St John’s wart can interact with some substances and alter the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a number of different drugs; grapefruit juice (and some other juices) can inactivate some enzymes used to destroy toxins and some drugs being absorbed leading to higher and potentially toxic levels of the drugs in the body.