IngentaConnect BRIEF REPORT: Development of a Prescription Medication Informatio...

Abstract:

BACKGROUND:

Websites offering drug information vary in coverage and quality, and most health care consumers are poorly equipped to assess the quality of internet medication information. OBJECTIVE:

To establish a webliography of recommended prescription medication information websites for health care consumers and providers. DESIGN AND METHODS:

Drug information websites were systematically identified based on recommendations from health professionals and text-word searches of MEDLINE and Google. The resulting sample of websites was evaluated in a 2-step process. Candidate websites were first screened using inclusion/exclusion criteria representing minimum information requirements. Websites that passed the inclusion/exclusion criteria were then rated on 16 quality criteria using a 5-point scale by 3 trained judges. Website ratings were averaged, then multiplied by the corresponding importance weight of each criterion and summed to generate a total score. Websites with the highest total scores were included in the webliography. RESULTS:

Ten websites were selected for inclusion in the webliography. The 3 highest-scoring websites were Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield ( http://home.anthemhealth.com/topic/drugcenter), U.S. National Library of Medicine ( http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html), and Healthvision ( http://www.yourhealthinformation.com/library/healthguide/en-us/drugguide/default.htm). CONCLUSION:

Medication information websites vary widely in quality and content. The online webliography is a valuable and easily accessed tool that can be recommended by health care professionals to patients who request referral to reliable websites.

Keywords: internet; webliography; medication information; prescription drug information

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00620.x

Affiliations: 1: Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA;

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BRIEF REPORT: Development of a Prescription Medication Information Webliography for Consumers