Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Dec 05, 2023)
Date Submitted: Mar 12, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: May 27, 2022 - Jul 22, 2022
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Internet as a Medication Safety Information Source among Female Consumers of Reproductive Health
ABSTRACT
Background:
In recent years, both the consumer reliance upon the internet for health information has increased. To develop better understanding of this phenomenon, we evaluated the predictive factors of using the internet as a medication safety information source among women of child bearing age.
Objective:
To evaluate the predictive factors of using the internet as a medication safety information source among women of childbearing age.
Methods:
210 women between the ages of 18 and 44, including 129 were currently pregnant or or had a recent pregnancy were included in our analysis. Participants who had difficulty understanding the English language at the time of the study were excluded. The sample was a US-based online sample of women. Study variables included in our analysis included socio-demographic characteristics, medication use, comorbidities, and medication information seeking experiences. Simple and multiple logistic regression was conducted to evaluate predictors of internet use for medication safety information. Adjusted and unadjusted Odds Ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated and reported, with an alpha of 0.05.
Results:
Nearly half of all women of reproductive age, and 27.1% of women were either currently pregnant at the time of survey or had a child one year or less, reported using the internet as a source of medication information. Additional pregnancy experience and uninsured status were significant predictors of using the internet as a medication information source, while perception of receiving complete information from doctors and anxiety over dissimilar information were not. Fewer women who had recent pregnancy experience recognized the CDC as a valid information source, versus to those who did not. More women with recent pregnancy experiences acknowledged Baby Center as a valid pregnancy source than their counterparts without recent pregnancy experiences.
Conclusions:
The internet remains a steady source of medication safety information for women of reproductive age, and its utilization is increased by number of pregnancies. Women of reproductive age, particularly pregnant women, showed high rates of trust in unverified websites as sources of valid medication information. Education about internet use regarding medication safety is important especially for women of reproductive age, especially given the high utilization rate and rise in misinformation anticipated during this post-pandemic era
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