The utilization of Arabic online drug information among adults in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the utilization of the world wide web has become increasingly popular. However, the exact figure of such use is unknown. This study aimed to determine the percentage of, and experience with, online Arabic drug information by Arabic-speaking adults in Saudi Arabia. A web based questionnaire was used. The questionnaire language was Arabic. Public were invited to participate in the survey through e-mails, Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook in March 2012. The survey included 17 items examining the types of accessed Arabic drug information, the respondent's demographics, their ability to easily find and understand Arabic drug-related information, and their trustfulness and dependency on such information websites. Of the 422 Arabic speaking adults who answered the questionnaire, 88% stated that they used Arabic websites to answer drug-related questions. Of the respondents, 50% had a bachelor's degree, 44% were young adults, over half were female (60%), and 72% of them have a chronic disease. The ease of retrieving online information was the most common reason (69%) for consulting such websites. Google as a search engine was the most frequently (86%) accessible website. Although respondents reported different drug-related topics in their online searching, the search for adverse effects was the most common (68%). Respondents claimed that they could easily find (65%) and understand (49%) the drug-related information. Although a good number of respondents qualified this type of information as good, double-checking of information on other websites was highly recommended. Trustfulness was one of the important parameters to measure and 205 respondents (55%) claimed that they only trusted half of the information cited. Moreover, around 48% of respondents considered that finding the same information on more than one website increased its trustfulness. Surprisingly, 54% of respondents did not depend on Arabic information websites when making decisions on drug use. There are a high proportion of Arabic speaking people in Saudi Arabia using and consulting Arabic drug information websites. This information is easily found and understood. However, the quality and trustfulness of such websites are not high enough to depend on them. A qualified Arabic drug information website is important to meet this need.