Comparison of drug information on Wikipedia: trade-name only vs. generic drugs

Purpose: Previous studies indicate that the drug information on Wikipedia is accurate but incomplete, however it remains a ubiquitous resource accessed by both healthcare providers and the lay public.  The user-generated nature of Wikipedia articles presents possibility for bias.  This study aims to determine if quantity or quality of drug information available on Wikipedia varies between drugs still under patent and drugs that have generic equivalents available.

Methods:  Drugs for comparison were chosen from the “Top 200 Drugs of 2010” published in Pharmacy Times, May 2011.  Each corresponding Wikipedia article was downloaded as a PDF file and reviewed for length, accuracy, omission of major warnings, and number of revisions. 

Results:  Pending project completion.

Conclusion: Pending project completion, highly likely to be complete before presentation, estimated end date 8/2012.