The utilization of Arabic online drug information among adults in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In Saudi Arabia, the utilization of the world wide web has become increasingly popular. However, the exact figure of such use is unknown. This study aimed to determine the percentage of, and experience with, online Arabic drug information by Arabic-speaking adults in Saudi Arabia. A web based questionnaire was used. The questionnaire language was Arabic. Public were invited to participate in the survey through e-mails, Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook in March 2012. The survey included 17 items examining the types of accessed Arabic drug information, the respondent's demographics, their ability to easily find and understand Arabic drug-related information, and their trustfulness and dependency on such information websites. Of the 422 Arabic speaking adults who answered the questionnaire, 88% stated that they used Arabic websites to answer drug-related questions. Of the respondents, 50% had a bachelor's degree, 44% were young adults, over half were female (60%), and 72% of them have a chronic disease. The ease of retrieving online information was the most common reason (69%) for consulting such websites. Google as a search engine was the most frequently (86%) accessible website. Although respondents reported different drug-related topics in their online searching, the search for adverse effects was the most common (68%). Respondents claimed that they could easily find (65%) and understand (49%) the drug-related information. Although a good number of respondents qualified this type of information as good, double-checking of information on other websites was highly recommended. Trustfulness was one of the important parameters to measure and 205 respondents (55%) claimed that they only trusted half of the information cited. Moreover, around 48% of respondents considered that finding the same information on more than one website increased its trustfulness. Surprisingly, 54% of respondents did not depend on Arabic information websites when making decisions on drug use. There are a high proportion of Arabic speaking people in Saudi Arabia using and consulting Arabic drug information websites. This information is easily found and understood. However, the quality and trustfulness of such websites are not high enough to depend on them. A qualified Arabic drug information website is important to meet this need.

Internet as a source of medicines information (MI) among frequent internet users

“…The results are in accordance with previous studies focusing on health information, showing that the internet is used in particular by highly educated, relatively young women who use it daily [1][2]3,5 and those who continuously use vitamins and herbal remedies, even though some previous studies have not found differences between genders in internet use for health information purposes. 13 Chronic illnesses were not associated with increased internet use as a medicines information source in our study, which contrasts with previous studies 7,9,[17][18] and thus, needs to be explored further. This discrepancy may be due to methodological issues, as this survey was posted mainly by patient organizations yielding to a group of respondents who almost all had some chronic illness.…”

“…6,[15][16] Furthermore, some studies have focused on the use of internet as MI source among people with some specific patient groups, such as mental illness, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. 7,9,[17][18] More research is needed in order to comprehensively identify those groups who are the most active users of the online MI and who may especially benefit from internet-based MI sources and services in terms of sociodemographic factors (broader than gender and age), health status and medicine use This will help to focus development of internet-based MI sources and services for these groups.…”

WhatsApp Messenger as an Adjunctive Tool for Telemedicine: An Overview

“…Five studies investigated the applicability of the WhatsApp Messenger as either a communication tool between health care professionals or as a learning tool [ 12 , 16 , 19 , 21 , 22 ]. In the other 5 studies, the app was used either as a communication tool between health care professionals and the public or as a teaching tool to provide information on health care to the general population [ 5 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 20 ].…”

“…They were chosen because they are high-quality representative Web pages written in plain English and provide good linkages between medical terminology and plain English words [ 26 ]. A total of 30 articles were initially identified, but after a detailed assessment of all of the references, a subsequent screening, and a quality assessment, 10 studies were determined to be eligible for inclusion [ 5 , 12 , 15 - 22 ]. Although our study demonstrates a positive role of WhatsApp usage for health care purposes, the studies found in the literature were found to be substandard in quality.…”

Use of Medical Mobile Applications Among Hospital Pharmacists in Malaysia

“…All the reasons stated above make dosage recommendation, ADR, and drug interaction the most important DI that the clinicians can search for. 31,32 Based on the respondents' perceptions toward the type of DI in mobile medical applications, general dosage recommendations, pediatric dosage recommendations, and dosage recommendations in renal failure are among the most important information. A previous study indicates that dosage recommendations are the highest number of inquiries received in DI.…”