Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33582973›Full record

ArticleDrug safety2021

Public Perspectives of Using Social Media Data to Improve Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Alexander Bulcock, Lamiece Hassan, Sally Giles, Caroline Sanders, Goran Nenadic, Stephen Campbell, Will Dixon

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Drug safety, 2021. 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
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
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, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pharmacovigilance in the digital age: gaining insight from social media data.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2025
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Engaging PatientsFrontiers in pharmacology · 2022
    Article
  7. Article
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 at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alexander Bulcock *Health Education England, North West Deanery, UK.
Lamiece Hassan *Division of Informatics, Imaging and Data Sciences, Centre for Health Informatics, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5888-422X
Sally GilesDivision of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1623-6029
Caroline SandersDivision of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0539-928X
Goran NenadicSchool of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0795-5363
Stephen CampbellDivision of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2328-4136
Will DixonDivision of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK. Will.Dixon@manchester.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-5881-4857
Manchester Academic Health Science Centre · GBUniversity of Manchester · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council G0902272Medical Research Council MC_PC_13042Medical Research Council MR/K006665/1Medical Research Council MR/S004025/1Versus Arthritis 21755
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionInformation on suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) voluntarily submitted by patients can be a valuable source of information for improving drug safety; however, public awareness of reporting mechanisms remains low. Whilst methods to automatically detect ADR mentions from social media posts using text mining techniques have been proposed to improve reporting rates, it is unclear how acceptable these would be to social media users.

objectiveThe objective of this study was to explore public opinion about using automated methods to detect and report mentions of ADRs on social media to enhance pharmacovigilance efforts.

methodsUsers of the online health discussion forum HealthUnlocked participated in an online survey (N = 1359) about experiences with ADRs, knowledge of pharmacovigilance methods, and opinions about using automated data mining methods to detect and report ADRs. To further explore responses, five qualitative focus groups were conducted with 20 social media users with long-term health conditions.

resultsParticipant responses indicated a low awareness of pharmacovigilance methods and ADR reporting. They showed a strong willingness to share health-related social media data about ADRs with researchers and regulators, but were cautious about automated text mining methods of detecting and reporting ADRs.

conclusionsSocial media users value public-facing pharmacovigilance schemes, even if they do not understand the current framework of pharmacovigilance within the UK. Ongoing engagement with users is essential to understand views, share knowledge and respect users' privacy expectations to optimise future ADR reporting from online health communities.

Indexed as

Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsSocial MediaAdverse Drug Reaction Reporting SystemsHumansPharmacovigilanceSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID33582973
PMCPMC8053157
OpenAlexW3129261571

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.