Information about benzodiazepines: what does the internet offer us?

Ramos, Thales Brandi; Bokehi, Luciana Castilho; Oliveira, Erika Barreto de; Gomes, Marcel da Silva Amorim; Bokehi, José Raphael; Castilho, Selma Rodrigues de

doi:10.1590/1413-812320202511.09632019

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Brasil

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ARTICLE • Ciênc. saúde coletiva 25 (11) • Nov 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-812320202511.09632019 copy

Information about benzodiazepines: what does the internet offer us?

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

This study analysed the quality of information published on the internet regarding 4 benzodiazepines that are widely used in Brazil: alprazolam, bromazepam, clonazepam and diazepam. This choice is justified by the fact that these drugs are widely used and can generate chemical dependency, and the internet is an important source of information about them. We analysed 20 sites for each drug. More than half (56.3%) of the sites were classified as deficient or very deficient. The most frequent problems with the sites were the absence of a description of the person responsible for the site (60%), incomplete information (62.5%), the absence of a contact for additional information (45%) and the absence of the last date the site was updated (82%). These results reinforce concerns regarding the quality of the health information published on the internet, which has already been noted in the literature, and the need to adopt minimum quality criteria for this information.

Key words
Internet; Drug; Information

Aspect	Criteria analysed	10 pts	0 pts	Total
Content	Is the site explicitly responsible?	Yes	No	10
	Is information about the medicine complete and according to ANVISA's bulletin?	Yes	No	10
	Are the contraindications presented?	Yes	No	10
	Does it indicate the need for professional follow-up?	Yes	No	10
	Does it use Brazilian common denomination (DCB)?	Yes	No	10
	Does it contain the date of the last update?	Yes	No	10
	Is there a contact for additional information?	Yes	No	10
	Does it have suggested use guidelines?	No	Yes	10
	Is there a suggestion for where to get the medicine?	No	Yes	10
Design	Are there any elements of distraction?	No	Yes	10
	Total			100

		Observed percentage
	Aspect	Alprazolam		Bromazepam		Clonazepam		Diazepam
		%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N
Content	Is the site explicitly responsible?	35	7	35	7	40	8	40	8
	Is the information about the medicine complete and according to ANVISA's bulletin?	35	7	35	7	40	8	40	8
	Are the contraindications presented?	55	11	65	13	65	13	65	13
	Does it indicate the need for professional follow-up?	70	14	55	11	55	11	60	12
	Does it use Brazilian common denomination (DCB)?	100 ^* * Two sites used both DCB and the product's trade name.	20	95^ Two sites used both DCB and the product's trade name.	19	90^ Two sites used both DCB and the product's trade name.	18	90^* ***** Four sites used both DCB and the product's trade name.	18
	Does it contain the date of the last update?	10	2	10	2	25	5	25	5
	Is there a contact for additional information?	45	9	60	12	55	11	60	12
	Does it have suggested use guidelines?	25	5	20	4	40	8	40	8
	Is there a suggestion for where to get the medicine?	25	5	20	4	40	8	40	8
Design	Is there any element of distraction?	50	10	65	13	25	5	40	8

Medication / Site classification	good		regular		deficient		very poor
Medication / Site classification	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Alprazolam	0	0	9	45	9	45	2	10
Bromazepam	3	15	5	25	11	55	1	5
Clonazepam	2	10	6	30	10	50	2	10
Diazepam	4	20	6	30	10	50	0	0
Total	9	11,25	26	32,5	40	50	5	6,25

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[1] Collaborations

SR Castilho participated in defining the methodology, analyzing the results and writing the text. TB Ramos, LC Bokehi, EB Oliveira and MSA Gomes participated in the discussion of the methodology, collected the data, participated in the analysis of the data and the writing of the text. JR Bokehi participated in the discussion of the methodology, data analysis and text review.