Social media as a source of drug safety information in the paediatric population.

Abstract

Aims: The paediatric population is vulnerable to suffering adverse drug events (ADEs) such as negative outcomes due to medication (NOMs)-drug related problems (DRPs), especially adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and medication errors (MEs). Social media (SM) is considered an interesting tool for pharmacovigilance. This study aims to assess descriptions of ADRs, NOM-DRPs and MEs in SM.

Methods: Observational, ambispective study assessing NOM-DRPs, ADRs and MEs in posts of child-rearing public parenting forums from inception until December 2021 of drugs dispensed in outpatient setting. ADEs were classified, assessing causality by Liverpool Causality Assessment Tool and seriousness by the World Health Organization criteria. Summary of product characteristics were used to determine ADR prevalence.

Results: In total, 3573 posts of 2 child-rearing public parenting forums were retrieved; 906 (25%) contained descriptions of medicine of which 823 (91%) were analysed; 425 posts (52%) described 636 NOM-DRPs (1 NOM-DRP median per child, interquartile range [IQR] 1-8), from which 161 (26%) were ADRs in 105 posts (1.5 ADR median per child, IQR 1-4) and 95 (15%) were MEs in 64 posts (1 ME median per child, IQR 1-4). From posts mined with medicines mentions, 70% included NOM-DRPs, 18% ADRs and 10% MEs. More ADRs occurred in females and infants. Most ADRs (158; 98%) were evaluated as possible and 17 ADRs (11%) were serious. Uncommon 19 (12%), (14, 9%), very rare (3, 2%) and rare (1, 1%) ADRs were also found.

Conclusion: Results suggest that information retrieved from SM may be useful to assess paediatric ADEs and provide valuable pharmacovigilance complementary data.