Consumer views on the use of digital tools for reporting adverse drug reactions: a cross-sectional study

The application of digital technologies has shown benefits in enhancing pharmacovigilance activities but consumers views on the use of these tools for this purpose are not well described.

To explore consumers' views on using digital tools to report adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and identify key features that consumers want in digital tools for ADR reporting.

An online survey was conducted among adults who had taken medicine in the previous six-months in Australia. The development of questions was guided by the Combined Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour (C-TAM-TPB) framework. Responses to closed-ended questions were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square/Fisher's exact test, while free-text responses were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

A total of 494 responses were included in the analysis. Eighty-seven percent of respondents preferred using digital tools for reporting ADRs. Consumers indicated a free-text space for describing ADRs (90%) as important or very important features of digital tools for ADR reporting, followed by acknowledgement of their report submission (87%) and receiving summary of previously reported ADRs (87%). Women (p < 0.001), advanced smartphone users (p < 0.001), and previous digital healthcare tool users (p = 0.017) showed higher intention to use digital tools. Consumers emphasized the importance of ease-of-use, accessibility, receiving medicine safety information, feedback, and advice for reporting ADRs via digital tools.

Consumers prefer using digital tools for reporting ADRs and place high value on features such as a free-text space for describing ADRs, acknowledgement of report submissions, and access to summaries of previously submitted reports.