Accuracy and Completeness of Drug Information in Wikipedia: A Comparison with Standard Textbooks of Pharmacology

The online resource Wikipedia is increasingly used by students for knowledge acquisition and learning. However, the lack of a formal editorial review and the heterogeneous expertise of contributors often results in skepticism by educators whether Wikipedia should be recommended to students as an information source. In this study we systematically analyzed the accuracy and completeness of drug information in the German and English language versions of Wikipedia in comparison to standard textbooks of pharmacology. In addition, references, revision history and readability were evaluated. Analysis of readability was performed using the Amstad readability index and the Erste Wiener Sachtextformel. The data on indication, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, adverse effects and contraindications for 100 curricular drugs were retrieved from standard German textbooks of general pharmacology and compared with the corresponding articles in the German language version of Wikipedia. Quantitative analysis revealed that accuracy of drug information in Wikipedia was 99.7%+/- 0.2% when compared to the textbook data. The overall completeness of drug information in Wikipedia was 83.8 +/- 1.5% (p<0.001). Completeness varied in-between categories, and was lowest in the category "pharmacokinetics'' (68.0% +/- 4.2%;p<0.001) and highest in the category "indication'' (91.3%+/- 2.0%) when compared to the textbook data overlap. Similar results were obtained for the English language version of Wikipedia. Of the drug information missing in Wikipedia, 62.5% was rated as didactically non-relevant in a qualitative re-evaluation study. Drug articles in Wikipedia had an average of 14.6 +/- 1.6 references and 262.8 +/- 37.4 edits performed by 142.7 +/- 17.6 editors. Both Wikipedia and textbooks samples had comparable, low readability. Our study suggests that Wikipedia is an accurate and comprehensive source of drug-related information for undergraduate medical education

Network-specific resting-state connectivity changes in the premotor-parietal axis in writer's cramp

Background: Writer's cramp is a task-specific dystonia impairing writing and sometimes other fine motor tasks. Neuroimaging studies using manifold designs have shown varying results regarding the nature of changes in the disease. Objective: To clarify and extend the knowledge of underlying changes by investigating functional connectivity (FC) in intrinsic connectivity networks with putative sensorimotor function at rest in an increased number of study subjects. Methods: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging with independent component analysis was performed in 26/27 writer's cramp patients/healthy controls, and FC within and between resting state networks with putative sensorimotor function was compared. Additionally, voxel-based morphometry was carried out on the subjects' structural images. Results: Patients displayed increased left- and reduced right-hemispheric primary sensorimotor FC in the premotor-parietal network. Mostly bilaterally altered dorsal/ventral premotor FC, as well as altered parietal FC were observed within multiple sensorimotor networks and showed differing network-dependent directionality. Beyond within-network FC changes and reduced right cerebellar grey matter volume in the structural analysis, the positive between-network FC of the cerebellar network and the basal ganglia network was reduced. Conclusions: Abnormal resting-state FC in multiple networks with putative sensorimotor function may act as basis of preexisting observations made during task-related neuroimaging. Further, altered connectivity between the cerebellar and basal ganglia network underlines the important role of these structures in the disease. Keywords: Resting state, Functional connectivity, Dystonia, Premotor cortex, Cerebellu

Accuracy and completeness of drug information in Wikipedia.

<p>Analysis of (A) accuracy and (B) completeness of the German (left panel) and English (right panel) language Wikipedia in comparison to textbooks. Accuracy was defined as the degree of closeness to the pharmacological information of the textbooks overlap. Completeness was defined as percentage of pharmacological statements of the textbook overlap present in the respective Wikipedia articles. Box plots showing median, first and third quartile with whiskers depicting the 5% and 95% percentile. In (A), statistical outliers are shown as black dots. Note that some box plots appear as vertical lines due to high accuracy scores and low variability of data. IND, indication; MA, mechanism of action; AE, adverse effects; PK, pharmacokinetics; CI, contraindications.</p

Study design.

<p>Pharmacological information of randomly selected curricular drugs was retrieved form two standard textbooks of general pharmacology for five different categories (indication, mechanism of action, adverse effects, pharmacokinetics and contraindications). The textbook data overlap served as point of reference for the corresponding drug articles in Wikipedia. The analysis was performed separately for the German and English language version of Wikipedia and textbooks.</p

Descriptive statistics of edits and editors of drug articles in Wikipedia.

<p>Descriptive statistics of edits and editors of drug articles in Wikipedia.</p