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Considering the short duration of the trials, the lack of trials including newer laxatives and the low quality of some of the included trials, the long-term efficacy and safety of these laxatives are not conclusive. There is a need to conduct more robust RCTs that include newer agents to evaluate long-term outcomes.

There are currently only few well-designed head-to-head RCTs investigating the efficacy and safety of MPG-EPO compared with other ESAs in non-dialysis-dependent patients. MPG-EPO therapy compared with darbepoetin alfa has demonstrated favorable effects of increasing and maintaining hemoglobin concentrations to recommended target levels. This mini-review is not conclusive due to limited number of studies. Therefore, the beneficial effects and tolerability of MPG-EPO among non-dialysis-dependent CKD patients should be further investigated, given the economic and clinical benefits of managing anemia in this population.

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Despite an increase in pharmacy practice research, literature addressing the attitudes and involvement of pharmacists is limited. Our own observations as pharmacy practitioners and educators lead us to believe that, so far, pharmacists are reluctant to participate in research at any level and indicate some barriers to research. In this chapter, we review the literature and gauge the views and attitudes of pharmacists with regard to their involvement in research. We also identify the barriers as well as outline the enablers to conducting such research. The chapter highlights pharmacists' attitudes and trends towards pharmacy practice research over the past three decades. We mainly utilised MEDLINE, PubMed, EBSCO, ScienceDirect, ProQuest and Google Scholar to identify published studies surrounding this issue. Evolution of Pharmacy Practice as a Catalyst for ResearchThe pharmacy profession has undergone tremendous changes, and the scope of pharmacy professional practice has expanded in the past few decades (Bond 2006;Holland and Nimmo 1999;Van Mil and Fernandez-Llimos 2013). This is further supported by the evolution of the concept and practice of pharmaceutical care in the 1990s (Hepler and Strand 1990;Holland and Nimmo 1999;Penna 1990 and patients' increased demands, preferences and expectations. The changing roles for pharmacy are also attributed to the ease with which the public accesses pharmacy services as well as changes in pharmacy curricula that led to increased expertise in therapeutics. Why Be Interested in Pharmacists' Attitudes Towards Practice-Based Research?According to the Canadian Pharmacists Association, "pharmacy practice research" is defined as a component of health services research that focuses on the assessment and evaluation of pharmacy practice (Bakker 1996). The new roles for pharmacists evolve in parallel with evidence-based practice, which is a new paradigm in health services delivery (Sackett et al. 1996). As new professional services and practices evolve, there is a need to demonstrate evidence of their benefit and costeffectiveness (Bond 2006;Kritikos et al. 2013; Roberts and Kennington 2010b, c;Schommer et al. 2010;Anderson et al. 2008). Some US-based studies have reviewed the literature on the evidence of benefit of clinical pharmacy services (Hatoum and Akhras 1993;Hatoum et al. 1986;Schumock et al. 1996Schumock et al. , 2003. However, often local evidence is needed that could demonstrate the need for a new service or different method of service delivery (Bond 2006;Peterson et al. 2009; Roberts and Kennington 2010a, b, c) and reluctance among pharmacists for participating in such research-based activities. Understanding pharmacists' attitudes and perception about practice-based research is critical in developing a critical mass of pharmacy professionals who are actively involved in advancing practice through high-quality research and innovation. It is also instrumental in raising awareness, cultivating a culture change, inculcating a positive attitude and strengthening rese...

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