Quality of Websites and Facebook Pages in Thai with the Contents on Herbal Products and Dietary Supplements
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objective: To determine the prevalence of websites and Facebook pages in Thai with the content on herbal products and dietary supplements (HPDS) with acceptable quality. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study systematically searched websites and Facebook pages in Thai language with contents on HPDS from October to December 2019 using three search engines, i.e. Google, Yahoo and Bink, and Facebook search. Search terms included herbs, Thai herbs, herbal medicine, dietary supplements and dietary supplement products. The instrument to judge the quality of websites and Facebook pages was the modified Sandvik scale. Websites and Facebook pages with acceptable quality were defined in the study as those having the score at least 50% of the total quality score. Results: The prevalence of websites (N=274) and Facebook pages (N=385) with acceptable quality was 34.7% and 30.1%, respectively. The majority of websites (84.3%) and Facebook pages (66.2%) were for commercial. Major quality problems of online sources in Thailand included no display of information on 1) conflict of interest, 2) information sources, and 3) balance information on benefits and adverse events of HPDS. The websites had a higher level of quality than Facebook pages did. The majority of websites and Facebook pages with acceptable quality were created by governmental agencies including Thai FDA, higher education organizations, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, and public hospitals (12.4% and 7.3% for websites and Facebook, respectively), but was considered quite small. Conclusion: Prevalence of websites in Thai with the content related to HPDS with acceptable quality was higher than that of Facebook pages. Therefore, Thai consumers should seek reliable HPDS information from websites owned by government organizations. Quality of online sources of HPDS information in Thailand need improvement in order to protect consumers from fake news.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
ผลการวิจัยและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความถือเป็นความคิดเห็นและอยู่ในความรับผิดชอบของผู้นิพนธ์ มิใช่ความเห็นหรือความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการ หรือคณะเภสัชศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ ทั้งนี้ไม่รวมความผิดพลาดอันเกิดจากการพิมพ์ บทความที่ได้รับการเผยแพร่โดยวารสารเภสัชกรรมไทยถือเป็นสิทธิ์ของวารสารฯ
References
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission. Internet users in Thailand [online]. 2021 [cited Mar 29, 2021]. Available from: webstats. nbtc.go.th/netnbtc/INTERNETUSERS.php.
Statista. Number of Facebook users in Thailand from 2015 to 2025 (in millions) [online]. 2021 [cited Apr 28, 2021]. Available from: www.statista.com/statistic s/490467/number-of-thailand-facebook-users/.
Datareportal. Digital 2020: Thailand [online]. 2020 [cited Sep 28, 2022]. Available from: datareportal. com/reports/digital-2020-thailand.
Statista. Forecast of the number of Instagram users in Thailand from 2017 to 2025 [online]. 2020 [cited Sep 28, 2022]. Available from: www.statista.com /forecasts/1138778/instagram-users-in-thailand.
Statista. Forecast of the number of Youtube users in Thailand from 2017 to 2025 [online]. 2020 [cited Sep 28, 2022]. Available from: www.statista.com/forecas ts/1146362/youtube-users-in-thailand.
Kanjanahattakij N, Kwankhao P, Vathesatogkit P, Thongmung N, Gleebbua Y, Sritara P, et al. Herbal or traditional medicine consumption in a Thai worker population: pattern of use and therapeutic control in chronic diseases. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2019; 19: 258.
Holmes MM, Bishop FL, Calman L. "I just googled and read everything": Exploring breast cancer survi- vors' use of the internet to find information on com- plementary medicine. Complement Ther Med. 2017; 33: 78-84.
Kheokao J, Ubolwan K, Tipkanjanaraykha K, Plodp luang U. Online health information seeking beha- viors among the Thai elderly social media users. TLA Research Journal. 2019; 12: 60-76.
Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA). Thailand internet user profile 2015. Bangkok: ETDA; 2013.
Sharma V, Holmes JH, Sarkar IN. Identifying complementary and alternative medicine usage information from internet resources. A systematic review. Methods Inf Med. 2016; 55: 322-32.
Owens C, Baergen R, Puckett D. Online sources of herbal product information. Am J Med. 2014; 127: 109-15.
Sawatlon W, Uacharoen K, Sinchai S, Phuengphol N, Tabtimtong T, Seedaya P, et al. The relationship between the use of online social networks and the decision making to use Thai herbal products of the students of Sirindhorn College of Public Health Chonburi [online] 2019. [cited Mar 29, 2021]. Available from: sc.sci.tsu.ac.th/tsucon29/Proceeding _TSUCon29_2562.pdf
Klein JJ, Schweikart SJ. Does regulating dietary supplements as food in a world of social media influencers promote public safety? AMA J Ethics. 2022; 24: E396-401.
Phanthu S, Sritong C. Factors affecting online repurchase intention of herbal supplementary products. Journal of Management Science Review. 2019; 1: 63-71.
Bernstam EV, Sagaram S, Walji M, Johnson CW, Meric-Bernstam F. Usability of quality measures for online health information: Can commonly used technical quality criteria be reliably assessed? Int J Med Inform. 2005; 74: 675-83.
Saisin W, Lerkiatbundit S. Effects of the use of criteria for credibility evaluation of websites with advertisings of health products by consumers: A case study of food supplements. Thai Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2021; 13: 228-41.
Tangkiatkumjai M, Boardman H, Praditpornsilpa K, Walker DM. Reasons why Thai patients with chronic kidney disease use or do not use herbal and dietary supplements. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014; 14: 473.
Statista. Market share of leading search engines across Thailand in 2020 [online]. 2020 [cited Apr 28, 2021]. Available from: www.statista.com/statistics /954428/thailand-market-share-of-search-engines/.
Sandvik H. Health information and interaction on the internet: a survey of female urinary incontinence. BMJ. 1999; 319: 29-32.
Anti-Fake News Center Thailand. Herbal medicine [online].2020 [cited Apr 28, 2021]. Available from: www.antifakenewscenter.com/.
