Comparative analysis and methodology

¶ … medicinal information, not only for physicians, nurses, and other medical practitioners, but also for patients and other laypersons. Among the most essential reference tools are those involving pharmacology; the interaction and identification of the various substances prescribed or otherwise available to treat the myriad of symptoms and diseases that human beings suffer from is an essential component of any treatment. The most well-known pharmacological reference is the Physician's Desk Reference, a volume which over the course of its many editions has described the appearance, effects, and known interactions of almost every drug that has ever been officially approved and prescribed for the treatment of a disease or symptom. In the Information Age, however, there are many Internet-based references available for free, which might rival the Physician's Desk Reference for ease of use and accuracy, as websites can be updated with mush greater frequency and at drastically reduced costs when compared to books. This essay compares the Physician's Desk Reference with one such website, and attempts to determine the accuracy of the Internet alternative.

The website reviewed was Medline Plus, which provides access to a wide array of medical information, including information on pharmacological substances and nutritional supplements. In the main area of comparison, that of identifying various pharmaceutical drugs and their interactions, the website proved somewhat simpler to use than the Physician's Desk Reference. This is due largely to the simple difference of media by which the two are presented; Medline Plus offers various ways in which to search for a particular substance, including entering a user-derived term into the search field. The Physician's Desk Reference does have an extensive index with cross-referencing, and is incredibly easy to use as far as book references go, but cannot compare to the ease of the website.

The same is true of the two references' information on nutritional supplements, though here the website stands out as an even better resource. The Physician's Desk Reference contains some basic information about these supplements, but the government-run Medline Plus contains a database on nutritional supplements and herbal remedies as detailed and extensive as their database on pharmaceuticals. Thomson, the publisher that produces the Physician's Desk Reference, also produces a volume specifically devoted to nutritional supplements, which one can assume is similar in its organization to the standard Physician's Desk Reference. However, because Medline Plus has nutritional supplement and herbal remedy information available in exactly the same place and in the same fashion as their pharmaceutical information, this resource is much better and easier to use in this area than the Physician's Desk Reference.

Again, this issue really comes down to the different media of the two references; if a physical book contained the amount of information contained on Medline Plus or in the two volumes (pharmaceutical and supplemental) of the Physician's Desk Reference, the result would be either incredibly heavy and unwieldy or contain print to fine to read. Either way, such a volume simply could not be as practical and useful as either the two independent volumes of the Physician's Desk Reference or the single and easily navigable website run by Medline Plus. This website's search-ability allows for an easier cross-referencing between pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements, as well, without trying to keep a book open to several pages at once.

Cost is also a major factor in the two references. Though older editions of the Physician's Desk Reference can be found relatively cheaply (ironically, via online shopping), the current edition costs almost one hundred dollars purchased new. Medline Plus is free, making the cost benefit of this option at least equal to the benefits derived from ease of use and completeness of information. On this last point, the Physician's Desk Reference often contains more detailed information on various drugs, but these details are presented in a very dry and uninteresting manner, which can be difficult for non-medical practitioners to follow. Medline Plus seems to have been designed more for laypersons, so what it lacks in detail it more than makes up for in effectiveness, and all the necessary and important information can be found there. In addition, Medline Plus is able to offer longer, paragraph-style discussions of the drugs it lists, and does not always suffer from a lack of detail when compared to the book reference.