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Use of Social Media for Pharmacovigilance Activities: Key Findings and Recommendations from the Vigi4Med Project

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  • Bissan Audeh

    (LIMICS, Sorbonne Université, Inserm)

  • Florelle Bellet

    (Centre Régional de Pharmacovigilance, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Étienne, Hôpital Nord)

  • Marie-Noëlle Beyens

    (Centre Régional de Pharmacovigilance, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Étienne, Hôpital Nord)

  • Agnès Lillo-Le Louët

    (Centre Régional de Pharmacovigilance HEGP, AP-HP)

  • Cédric Bousquet

    (LIMICS, Sorbonne Université, Inserm
    CHU University Hospital of Saint Etienne)

Abstract

The large-scale use of social media by the population has gained the attention of stakeholders and researchers in various fields. In the domain of pharmacovigilance, this new resource was initially considered as an opportunity to overcome underreporting and monitor the safety of drugs in real time in close connection with patients. Research is still required to overcome technical challenges related to data extraction, annotation, and filtering, and there is not yet a clear consensus concerning the systematic exploration and use of social media in pharmacovigilance. Although the literature has mainly considered signal detection, the potential value of social media to support other pharmacovigilance activities should also be explored. The objective of this paper is to present the main findings and subsequent recommendations from the French research project Vigi4Med, which evaluated the use of social media, mainly web forums, for pharmacovigilance activities. This project included an analysis of the existing literature, which contributed to the recommendations presented herein. The recommendations are categorized into three categories: ethical (related to privacy, confidentiality, and follow-up), qualitative (related to the quality of the information), and quantitative (related to statistical analysis). We argue that the progress in information technology and the societal need to consider patients’ experiences should motivate future research on social media surveillance for the reinforcement of classical pharmacovigilance.

Suggested Citation

  • Bissan Audeh & Florelle Bellet & Marie-Noëlle Beyens & Agnès Lillo-Le Louët & Cédric Bousquet, 2020. "Use of Social Media for Pharmacovigilance Activities: Key Findings and Recommendations from the Vigi4Med Project," Drug Safety, Springer, vol. 43(9), pages 835-851, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:drugsa:v:43:y:2020:i:9:d:10.1007_s40264-020-00951-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s40264-020-00951-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shaun Comfort & Sujan Perera & Zoe Hudson & Darren Dorrell & Shawman Meireis & Meenakshi Nagarajan & Cartic Ramakrishnan & Jennifer Fine, 2018. "Sorting Through the Safety Data Haystack: Using Machine Learning to Identify Individual Case Safety Reports in Social-Digital Media," Drug Safety, Springer, vol. 41(6), pages 579-590, June.
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    6. Cedric Bousquet & Bissan Audeh & Florelle Bellet & Agnès Lillo-Le Louët, 2018. "Comment on “Assessment of the Utility of Social Media for Broad-Ranging Statistical Signal Detection in Pharmacovigilance: Results from the WEB-RADR Project”," Drug Safety, Springer, vol. 41(12), pages 1371-1373, December.
    7. John Stekelenborg & Johan Ellenius & Simon Maskell & Tomas Bergvall & Ola Caster & Nabarun Dasgupta & Juergen Dietrich & Sara Gama & David Lewis & Victoria Newbould & Sabine Brosch & Carrie E. Pierce , 2019. "Recommendations for the Use of Social Media in Pharmacovigilance: Lessons from IMI WEB-RADR," Drug Safety, Springer, vol. 42(12), pages 1393-1407, December.
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