Evaluation of drug information databases for personal digital assistants.

Purpose: Core and supplemental drug information databases available for use with personal digital assistants (PDAs) were evaluated.

Methods: Ten core (or standalone) databases, six drug interaction analyzers, and three dietary supplement databases used with the Palm and Pocket PC operating systems were selected for study. The databases were rated for scope (the absence or presence of an answer to a drug information question), completeness (the comprehensiveness of an answer), and ease of use (the number of hypertext links needed to reach the desired answer).