Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37021064›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in digital health2023

Social media and internet search data to inform drug utilization: A systematic scoping review.

Roman Keller, Alessandra Spanu, Milo Alan Puhan, Antoine Flahault, Christian Lovis, Margot Mütsch, Raphaelle Beau-Lejdstrom

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in digital health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Innovations in public health surveillance: An overview of novel use of data and analytic methods.Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada · 2024
    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.

Roman KellerEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Alessandra SpanuEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Milo Alan PuhanEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Antoine FlahaultInstitute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Christian LovisDivision of Medical Information Sciences, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Margot MütschEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Raphaelle Beau-LejdstromEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Drug utilization is currently assessed through traditional data sources such as big electronic medical records (EMRs) databases, surveys, and medication sales. Social media and internet data have been reported to provide more accessible and more timely access to medications' utilization. Objective: This review aims at providing evidence comparing web data on drug utilization to other sources before the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus until November 25th, 2019, using a predefined search strategy. Two independent reviewers conducted screening and data extraction. Results: Of 6,563 (64%) deduplicated publications retrieved, 14 (0.2%) were included. All studies showed positive associations between drug utilization information from web and comparison data using very different methods. A total of nine (64%) studies found positive linear correlations in drug utilization between web and comparison data. Five studies reported association using other methods: One study reported similar drug popularity rankings using both data sources. Two studies developed prediction models for future drug consumption, including both web and comparison data, and two studies conducted ecological analyses but did not quantitatively compare data sources. According to the STROBE, RECORD, and RECORD-PE checklists, overall reporting quality was mediocre. Many items were left blank as they were out of scope for the type of study investigated. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the potential of web data for assessing drug utilization, although the field is still in a nascent period of investigation. Ultimately, social media and internet search data could be used to get a quick preliminary quantification of drug use in real time. Additional studies on the topic should use more standardized methodologies on different sets of drugs in order to confirm these findings. In addition, currently available checklists for study quality of reporting would need to be adapted to these new sources of scientific information.

Indexed as

drug utilizationGoogle trendsinternet searchsocial mediasurveillancesystematic scoping reviewuser-generated data

Identifiers

PMID37021064
PMCPMC10067924

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.