Utility of an adverse drug event database based on the narrative accounts of patients with breast cancer

Abstract

Patient narratives of adverse drug events (ADEs) often differ from the symptoms listed on the package inserts of pharmaceutical products using common ADE terminology and could be a source of great comfort to patients with the same disease. To explore this idea, we analyzed written narratives obtained from 48 patients with breast cancer using the NPO Corporation Database of Individual Patients' Experiences, Japan (DIPEx-Japan). Our analysis aimed to determine the utility of an "Adverse Drug Event Database" for use in clinical settings as a novel source of disease information in patients' own words. An analysis of transcripts from 29 patients, in which they recounted their treatment drugs and the time of onset and duration of ADEs in great detail, revealed several discrepancies between the language they used to describe various side effects and the standard ADE terminology on package inserts. We conclude that the language used to describe ADEs on package inserts is insufficient for helping patients as they struggle to recognize, internalize, and overcome ADEs, and argue the need for available, detailed information in the words of real patients about the nature of the ADEs predicted, as well as their clinical course and duration. Such information would be invaluable in supplementing the standardized language used on package inserts. Databases of patients' narrative accounts of ADEs are needed as information sources that can be reliably disseminated among patients.