Evaluating Internet Drug Information

Abstract

For many consumers, the Internet has become a primary resource for health-related information. A study was conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity of consumer drug-information sites on the Internet. To assess reliability, the researchers identified sites with an “ask the pharmacist” option. Questions about the education and experience of the drug-information personnel, volume of inquiries received, reference utilization, and characteristics of inquirers were submitted to each of the sites. To assess validity, a drug information question was submitted to each of the sites. The responses received were evaluated by comparing them with responses from trained drug-information specialists working in established institutional services. Fewer than 70% of the sites answered the drug information question correctly. The conclusion: Drug information communicated via “ask the pharmacist” Internet sites may be unreliable.

An analysis of benefits and risk information on pharmaceutical web sites for the treatment of menopause

“…Thus, information about the possible benefits of hormone therapies was accompanied by efficacy statistics, but references to the scientific literature to support these claims were not provided for healthcare consumers. The failure to disclose scientific sources to consumers has also been noted by other researchers . As illustrated with claims of efficacy relative to a drug product, this study further highlighted the failure to provide clear and accessible information for consumers about the efficacy of prescription hormone treatments substantiated with scientific sources.…”

“…The failure to disclose scientific sources to consumers has also been noted by other researchers. 14,21 As illustrated with claims of efficacy relative to a drug product, this study further highlighted the failure to provide clear and accessible information for consumers about the efficacy of prescription hormone treatments substantiated with scientific sources.…”

“…Previous researchers have also concluded that drug‐related information on the Internet is either inaccurate or incomplete . Erbele et al . evaluated 49 pharmaceutical web sites for pain medications and found that the quality of the information communicated was inconsistent.…”

“…evaluated 49 pharmaceutical web sites for pain medications and found that the quality of the information communicated was inconsistent. Moreover, only a few of the web sites in the study provided the references used to answer patient questions about pain medications . Further, Kunst and Khan evaluated the quality of medical information on commercial web sites regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and noted that important information was lacking on the commercial web sites about simple preventative treatments.…”

“…Previous researchers have also concluded that drug-related information on the Internet is either inaccurate or incomplete. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Erbele et al 14 evaluated 49 pharmaceutical web sites for pain medications and found that the quality of the information communicated was inconsistent. Moreover, only a few of the web sites in the study provided the references used to answer patient questions about pain medications.…”