Accuracy and Completeness of Drug Information in Wikipedia: an Assessment
Authors | Natalie Kupferberg Bridget McCrate Protus |
|---|---|
Publication date | 2011 |
DOI | 10.3163/1536-5050.99.4.010 |
Links | Original |
Accuracy and Completeness of Drug Information in Wikipedia: an Assessment - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2011, written by Natalie Kupferberg and Bridget McCrate Protus.
Overview
How complete, accurate, and reliable is the drug information that Americans retrieve from Wikipedia? The question is important because 74% of American adults look online for health information [1], and Wikipedia is the 7th-most visited site on the web [2]. Consumers using general search engines like Google or Yahoo often arrive at Wikipedia. A study using keywords from 3 health indexes found that Wikipedia “ranked among the first ten results in 71–85% of search engines and keywords tested,” with its articles viewed more frequently than the corresponding MedlinePlus topic page [3]. Practitioners also go regularly to Wikipedia for health information. A 2009 study of 1,900 physicians found that 50% used Wikipedia to answer health questions, twice the percentage of the year before [4]. Other studies found that Wikipedia was used by 70% of 35 “junior physicians” who graduated from a major London medical school [5] and by 28% of pharmacists seeking drug information, in most cases to identify medication indications [6].
