Olive View-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Sylmar, CA, United States.
College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States.
JMIR Dermatol. 2021 Feb 8;4(1):e24971. doi: 10.2196/24971.
Herpes zoster affects approximately 1 million people annually in the United States, with postherpetic neuralgia as the most common complication. The frequent prescription of opioids as the first-line medication for herpes zoster or postherpetic neuralgia contributes to the increasing health care costs of their treatment. Despite the advent of internet retailers providing alternative products for the prevention and management these conditions, there are limited studies on the availability, ingredients, and consumer preference for the products.
This study used the internet retailer Amazon to determine the availability of products for the management of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia, and assessed consumer preference based on listed ingredients.
The internet retailer Amazon was used to perform a search for products related to "shingles" in September 2020. Top products sorted by reviews and ratings were determined to be either shingles-specific (including "shingles" in either the product title or description) or shingles-nonspecific. Analysis of price, rating, type of vehicle, and ingredients was performed. The types of vehicles, ingredients, and percentages of positive and negative reviews related to "shingles" of the product groups were analyzed with a two-tailed two-sample proportions Z-test to assess the difference between shingles-specific and shingles-nonspecific products. Statistical significance was judged at P<.05.
The top 131 products among over 3000 products retrieved were determined based on a rating of 4 or more stars after searching for the term "shingles" on Amazon. Forty-six of the 131 products (35.1%) were shingles-specific. Shingles-nonspecific products were more likely to have positive reviews mentioning "shingles" (P=.005). Vehicles, balms (P=.02), and salves (P=.04) were more likely to be shingles-specific, whereas tablets or capsules (P=.002) were more likely to be shingles-nonspecific. Among the ingredients analyzed, aloe vera was the top-ranked ingredient, included in 29 of the 131 total products (22.1%). Aloe vera (P=.01), lemon balm (P<.001), vitamin E (P=.03), and peppermint oil (P=.008) were more likely to be included in the shingles-specific products, whereas magnesium (P=.01) was more likely to be included in shingles-nonspecific products.
There is an abundance of products and ingredients being used for the management and treatment of shingles with certain ingredients preferred by consumers. There is a discrepancy between approved ingredients and the ingredients preferred by consumers. Furthermore, there are insufficient studies on ingredients used by consumers on internet retailers such as Amazon, and future studies can focus on the effectiveness of popular ingredients to decrease misinformation on the internet.
在美国，每年约有 100 万人感染带状疱疹，其最常见的并发症是带状疱疹后神经痛。由于经常将阿片类药物作为带状疱疹或带状疱疹后神经痛的一线药物处方，这导致了其治疗的医疗保健费用不断增加。尽管互联网零售商提供了用于预防和管理这些疾病的替代产品，但关于这些产品的供应、成分和消费者偏好的研究有限。
本研究使用互联网零售商亚马逊（Amazon）来确定用于管理带状疱疹和带状疱疹后神经痛的产品的供应情况，并根据列出的成分评估消费者偏好。
2020 年 9 月，使用互联网零售商亚马逊（Amazon）对与“带状疱疹”相关的产品进行了搜索。根据评论和评分对排名最高的产品进行了确定，这些产品要么是带状疱疹专用（产品标题或描述中包含“带状疱疹”），要么是带状疱疹非专用。对价格、评分、剂型和成分进行了分析。使用双侧两样本比例 Z 检验分析了产品组中与“带状疱疹”相关的剂型、成分以及正面和负面评论的百分比，以评估带状疱疹专用产品和带状疱疹非专用产品之间的差异。以 P<.05 为具有统计学意义。
在亚马逊上搜索“带状疱疹”后，根据评分 4 星或更高，从 3000 多种产品中确定了前 131 种产品。在这 131 种产品中，有 46 种（35.1%）是带状疱疹专用产品。带状疱疹非专用产品更有可能获得提及“带状疱疹”的正面评价（P=.005）。软膏（P=.02）和乳膏（P=.04）更有可能是带状疱疹专用产品，而片剂或胶囊（P=.002）更有可能是带状疱疹非专用产品。在所分析的成分中，库拉索芦荟是排名最高的成分，在 131 种总产品中包含 29 种（22.1%）。库拉索芦荟（P=.01）、柠檬香脂（P<.001）、维生素 E（P=.03）和薄荷油（P=.008）更有可能包含在带状疱疹专用产品中，而镁（P=.01）更有可能包含在带状疱疹非专用产品中。
有大量的产品和成分被用于管理和治疗带状疱疹，某些成分受到消费者的青睐。批准的成分与消费者偏好的成分之间存在差异。此外，关于消费者在亚马逊等互联网零售商上使用的成分的研究不足，未来的研究可以集中研究流行成分的有效性，以减少互联网上的错误信息。
