Improving Online Drug Information: Insights from Quality Evaluation and Pharmaceutical System Design

The integration of digital technology has greatly expanded public access to health and drug-related information through the Internet. However, the rapid proliferation of unverified content on websites targeting the general population raises serious concerns about health misinformation. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of Indonesian drug information websites accessible to the public and to design a verified, web-based drug information system.

A cross-sectional evaluation was conducted using the Quality Evaluation Scoring Tool (QUEST) to assess the quality of publicly available drug information websites in Indonesia. Development of the verified drug information platform followed the Rapid Application Development model, employing a prototyping approach.

Among the 14 publicly accessible drug information websites evaluated, 5 (35.71%) were classified as low quality (QUEST score ≤9), 4 (21.42%) as moderate quality (score 10-18), and 5 (35.71%) as high quality (score >18). The drug information website developed by the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Andalas, achieved a high-quality rating, with a QUEST score of 27 (96.43%), although it received the lowest subscore in the Complementarity domain. Higher QUEST scores indicate better information quality.

The findings show that nearly half of the websites providing drug information to the Indonesian public are of low quality. The website developed by the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Andalas, demonstrated strong overall quality, but improvements in the Complementarity domain are recommended to further strengthen user engagement and support.