For each disorder, we used Google to find those Dutch message boards where relevant medicines were most frequently discussed.
Effects of medicines were most frequently discussed in the posts about ADHD and ALS; these mainly concerned the experiences of other people using the relevant medicines.
From the selected message boards, we downloaded (in the form of a PDF file) every thread that included posts about relevant medicines; this resulted in 501 downloaded threads.
The query included the disorder name, names of relevant medicines, and typical extensions of (Dutch) message boards (see Additional file 1).
Many patients who do not fully comply with guidelines, however, still attend a GP relatively frequently (if only to obtain the relevant medicines).
For example, in Thailand where most of the relevant medicines were under patent, it was estimated that around 10,000 additional prescriptions would be prescribed if all patents were waived, generating an increase in access of some 50%.
Hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, were classified based on one of following conditions: a history of illnesses, relevant medicines used (e.g., non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)), or laboratory tests/physical examinations.
The feedback included a list of the patient's relevant medicines, contained notes identifying the potential problems, and included tick boxes for GPs to indicate the actions they would take in response to the information, including the need for a review of the patient's therapy.
Of the three participants who did not consider evolution to be relevant to medicine, only one was sure that evolution did not play any role in modern medicine.
