[Presence and adequacy of pharmaceutical preparations in the Spanish edition of Wikipedia].

OBJECTIVE

To determine the presence, and to evaluate the adequacy of pharmaceutical preparations in the Spanish edition of Wikipedia.

DESIGN

Descriptive cross-sectional study.

SETTING

the terms studied were obtained from the Vademecum, UBM Medica Spain S.A, (http://vademécum.es).

PARTICIPANTS

the sample was calculated by simple random sampling without replacement from the active ingredients present in the Vademecum, making the estimation of population parameters (expected value of approximately 0.5; 0.05 range accuracy and confidence level=0.95) in an infinite population.

METHOD

The existence and adequacy of the terminology was observed by accessing the Spanish edition of Wikipedia. The term was considered adequate when the information contained the proper use, dosage and adverse effects.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS

The qualitative binary variable yes/no (presence of the pharmaceutical drug, use, posology, adverse effects, adequacy) were described by frequency and percentage, quantitative (number of queries, update) using mean and standard deviation. The existences of an association between qualitative variables were analyzed using chi-square, and significance of the differences of means for independent samples, using the Student t test.

RESULTS

Of the sample studied (n=386), 171 terms were found, with 15 being adequate. Significant differences were observed between adequacy and dose (P<.001) and adverse effects (P<.001), but not with use (P=.193).

CONCLUSIONS

Pharmaceutical preparation entries in the Spanish edition of Wikipedia are still insufficient and the adequacy of the information remains inconsistent.