Comparing clinician knowledge and online information regarding Alli (Orlistat)

Background

Many consumers join online communities focused on health. Online forums are a popular medium for the exchange of health information between consumers, so it is important to determine the accuracy and completeness of information posted to online forums.

Objective

We compared the accuracy and completeness of information regarding the FDA-approved over-the counter weight-loss drug Alli (Orlistat) from forums and from clinicians.

Methods

We identified Alli-related questions posted on online forums and then posed the questions to 11 primary care providers. We then compared the clinicians’ answers to the answers given on the forums. A panel of blinded experts evaluated the accuracy and completeness of the answers on a scale of 0-4. Another panel of blinded experts categorized questions as being best answered based on clinical experience versus review of the literature.

Results

The accuracy and completeness of clinician responses was slightly better than forum responses, but there was no significant difference (2.3 vs. 2.1, p = 0.5). Only one forum answer contained information that could potentially cause harm if the advice was followed.

Conclusions

Forum answers were comparable to clinicians’ answers with respect to accuracy and completeness, but answers from both sources were unsatisfactory.