Adverse drug reaction early warning using user search data
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-10-2015-0341 |
| Date | 14 August 2017 |
| Pages | 524-536 |
| Published date | 14 August 2017 |
| Author | Wei Shang,Hsinchun Chen,Christine Livoti |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Adverse drug reaction early
warning using user search data
Wei Shang
Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Beijing, China
Hsinchun Chen
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA, and
Christine Livoti
Deerfield Institute, New York, New York, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to detect adverse drug reactions (ADRs)
using internet user search data, so that ADR events can be identified early. Empirical investigation of
Avandia, a type II diabetes treatment, is conducted to illustrate how to implement the proposed framework.
Design/methodology/approach –Typical ADR identification measures and time series processing
techniques are used in the proposed framework. Google Trends Data are employed to represent user searches.
The baseline model is a disproportionality analysis using official drug reaction reporting data from the US
Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System.
Findings –Results show that Google Trends series of Avandia side effects search reveal a significant early
warning signal for the side effect emergence of Avandia. The proposed approach of using user search data to
detect ADRs is proved to have a longer leading time than traditional drug reaction discovery methods. Three
more drugs with known adverse reactions are investigated using the selected approach, and two are
successfully identified.
Research limitations/implications –Validation of Google Trends data’s representativeness of user
search is yet to be explored. In future research, user search in other search engines and in healthcare web
forums can be incorporated to obtain a more comprehensive ADR early warning mechanism.
Practical implications –Using internet data in drug safety management with a proper early warning
mechanism may serve as an earlier signal than traditional drug adverse reaction. This has great potential in
public health emergency management.
Originality/value –The research work proposes a novel framework of using user search data in ADR
identification. User search is a voluntary drug adverse reaction exploration behavior. Furthermore,
user search data series are more concise and accurate than text mining in forums. The proposed methods as
well as the empirical results will shed some light on incorporating user search data as a new source
in pharmacovigilance.
Keywords Pharmacovigilance, Google Trends, Adverse drug reaction, Diabetes treatment, User search
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is an expression that describes harm associated with the
use of a given medication at a normal dosage during normal use. Pharmacovigilance (PV or
PhV), also known as Drug Safety, is the pharmacological science relating to the collection,
detection, assessment, monitoring, and prevention of adverse effects with pharmaceutical
products. Identification of ADRs from surveillance drug use reports is very important for
drug safety management.
Traditional sources of pharmacovigilance data are spontaneous drug use reporting
systems administrated by government agencies. The US Food and Drug Administration’s
(FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) is a computerized information database
designed to collect voluntarily reported adverse events and medication errors by
healthcare professionals and consumers in the USA. The FAERS data are publicly
available, and serves as a tool for post-marketing safety surveillance programs for all
approved drug and therapeutic biologic products in the USA. The French National
pharmacovigilance database, and EudraVigilance (European Union Drug Regulating
Online Information Review
Vol. 41 No. 4, 2017
pp. 524-536
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-10-2015-0341
Received 31 October 2015
Revised 31 August 2016
Accepted 5 October 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
524
OIR
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