Producing an information leaflet to help patients access high quality drug information on the Internet: a local study

To develop a patient information leaflet (PIL) to help local patients meet their drug information needs using the Internet, and to perform a preliminary evaluation of this tool.

Development--a cross-sectional survey of the drug information needs of local patients using a semi-structured questionnaire; assessment of websites offering free, consumer-orientated medicines information using set criteria; identification of consensus criteria to evaluate the quality of health-related on-line information; evaluation--views on a draft patient information leaflet from a focus group.

Those surveyed felt that being directed to high-quality websites and being provided with assessment criteria for on-line information would be useful. The three websites fulfilling most of the set quality criteria were Surgery Door (www.surgerydoor.co.uk), InteliHealth (www.intelihealth.com) and medlineplus (www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus). The six most frequently cited assessment criteria were currency, authorship, commerciality, relevance, links and attribution. A draft leaflet was constructed listing the above three websites and six criteria along with tips on how to search the Internet effectively. A focus group reacted favourably.

The Internet is a source of drug information--an information leaflet may help to guide local patients through its variable information quality.