Medications from the web: use of online pharmacies by emergency department patients

The Journal of Emergency Medicine
Maryann MazerJeanmarie Perrone

Abstract

Internet access and online pharmacies are a resource for purchasing medications. It is unclear if this venue is being used by emergency department (ED) patients to obtain medications. We sought to determine the frequency of and to characterize online pharmacy use by ED patients. We hypothesized that students and younger patients would be more likely than others to obtain medications via online pharmacies due to their familiarity with the Internet. This prospective, cross-sectional survey occurred in an urban university ED. We enrolled a convenience sample of adult patients. The study was Institutional Review Board approved, and informed consent was obtained. To determine differences between online pharmacy users and non-users, chi-squared or Fisher's exact tests were used for categorical data, and t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used for continuous variables. There were 1657 patients who completed the survey. The mean age was 39 years, standard deviation 16 years; 947/1657 (57%) reported awareness of online pharmacies; 89/1657 (5.4%) patients used the Internet to order medications. More patients with prescription plans ordered medications from online pharmacies (94.3% vs. 70%; p<0.0001), and Internet users were more comm...Continue Reading

References

Oct 28, 1999·The New England Journal of Medicine·K ArmstrongD A Asch
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Feb 13, 2004·Mayo Clinic Proceedings·Constance H FungSteven M Asch
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Citations

Mar 2, 2013·Journal of Oncology Practice·Tim K Mackey, Bryan A Liang
Oct 4, 2011·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Grazia OrizioUmberto Gelatti
Oct 26, 2013·American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education·Jack Fincham
May 13, 2014·Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhA·Joshua Brown, Chenghui Li
Mar 15, 2015·Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy : RSAP·Karishma DesaiDavid Mott
Mar 3, 2020·The Annals of Pharmacotherapy·Natalia Shcherbakova, Shane Desselle

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