Improving the Russian-language Wikipedia articles on medicines using new knowledge Cochrane

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Abstract

Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Cochrane Russia Initiative to improve the articles of the Russian-language Wikipedia by including information from Cochrane Systematic Reviews (CSR) to ensure the accuracy and impartiality of their content as an information basis for the quality use of medicines by doctors and the public.

Methods. Wikipedia articles on selected drugs were improved by introducing evidence from Cochrane Systematic Reviews — “Cochrenized”. A parallel open-label non-randomized controlled intervention study was conducted. We assigned 2 groups of drugs and Wikipedia articles about them: the intervention group (“Cochrenization”) and the control group (36 articles each). Control group articles were not edited. The change in the number of visits to Wikipedia pages for the year (2018–2019) was measured, the statistical significance of the differences was assessed by using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Results. We edited 36 Wikipedia articles, including 13 articles on migraine treatment, 9 diabetes mellitus, 14 pain and inflammation articles. These articles constituted the intervention group. The control group consisted of articles on cardiovascular (11), gastrointestinal (14) and dermatological agents (11). We used the Cochrane Russia Initiative dashboard on Wikipedia to compare the number of article views before and after the intervention and Cochrane analytics on demand for translations of Cochrane systematic reviews summaries. After “Cochrenization”, the number of Wikipedia article views (2018–2019) increased in total/average article views for treatments: migraines by 18%/47%, pain and inflammation — 16%/43%, diabetes mellitus — 18%/0%. Analysis of Cochrane reports showed an increase in the number of views of Cochrane systematic reviews summaries on the Cochrane.org website in general by 9 times and from Russian-speaking browsers by 11 times. Improvement of medicine-related articles of the Russian-language Wikipedia by the introduction of information from Cochrane systematic reviews was accompanied by an increase in their demand in terms of the number of views in general by 34%, with a similar increase in control (without intervention) (p-value of the experimental group — 0.002, control — 0.000). The Wikipedia articles on medicines, which belonged to the Russian Vital and Essential Drugs List or the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines, got more views.

Conclusion. The role of confounding factors justifies the feasibility of developing a methodology for studying the usefulness of improving Wikipedia articles, different from controlled trial research methodology; further inclusion of Cochrane knowledge into Wikipedia is needed.

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About the authors

A S Potapov

Kazan Federal University

Author for correspondence.
Email: Potapov0770@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Kazan, Russia

E G Alexandrova

Kazan Federal University

Email: Potapov0770@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Kazan, Russia

E V Yudina

Russian Medical Academy for Continuing Professional Education (RMANPO); City Children's Hospital № 1

Email: Potapov0770@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia; Kazan, Russia

L E Ziganshina

Russian Medical Academy for Continuing Professional Education (RMANPO); Kazan State Medical University

Email: Potapov0770@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia; Kazan, Russia

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