Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32819361›Full record

ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2020

The costs outweigh the benefits: seeing side-effects online may decrease adherence to statins.

Nickolas M Jones, Dana B Mukamel, Shaista Malik, Robert S Greenfield, Andrew Reikes, Nathan D Wong, Emilie Chow

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Nickolas M JonesDepartment of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA. nmjones@uci.edu.
Dana B MukamelDepartment of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, iTEQC Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4147-5785
Shaista MalikDepartment of Medicine, Division of Preventive Cardiology and Cardiac Rehab, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Robert S GreenfieldDepartment of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Andrew ReikesDepartment of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Nathan D WongHeart Disease Prevention Program, Division of Cardiology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
Emilie ChowDepartment of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe prevalence of medical misinformation on the Internet has received much attention among researchers concerned that exposure to such information may inhibit patient adherence to prescriptions. Yet, little is known about information people see when they search for medical information and the extent to which exposure is directly related to their decisions to follow physician recommendations. These issues were examined using statin prescriptions as a case study.

methodsWe developed and used a tool to rank the quality of statin-related web pages based on the presence of information about side effects, clinical benefits, management of side effects, and misinformation. We then conducted an experiment in which students were presented with a hypothetical scenario in which an older relative was prescribed a statin but was unsure whether to take the medication. Participants were asked to search the web for information about statins and make a recommendation to this relative. Their search activity was logged using a web-browser add-on. Websites each participant visited were scored for quality using our tool, quality scores were aggregated for each participant and were subsequently used to predict their recommendation.

resultsExposure to statin-related benefits and management of side effects during the search was significantly associated with a higher probability of recommending that an older relative adhere to their physician's recommendation. Exposure to misinformation and side effects were not associated, nor were any other participant characteristics. Bigram analyses of the top reasons participants gave for their recommendation mirrored the statistical findings, except that among participants who did not recommend following the prescription order, myriad side effects were mentioned.

conclusionsOur findings suggest that units of information people see on health-related websites are not treated equally. Our methods offer new understanding at a granular level about the impact of Internet searches on health decisions regarding evidence-based recommended medications. Our findings may be useful to physicians considering ways to address non-adherence. Preventive care should include actively engaging patients in discussions about health information they may find on the web. The effectiveness of this strategy should be examined in future studies.

Indexed as

CommunicationDrug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsPatient ComplianceCost-Benefit AnalysisFemaleHumansInternetMalePhysiciansHydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase InhibitorsHealth decision-makingHealth-information seekingMedical websitesStatins

Identifiers

PMID32819361
PMCPMC7439707

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.