Table 5.

Summary of recent studies on the prevalence of purchasing drugs and dietary supplements online.

Reference	Location (year of data collection)	Na	Sample population	Survey method	Respondents purchasing health products online (%)
Abanmy [41]	Saudi Arabia (2013-2014)	633	Random sample of internet users	Online	2.7
Alfahad et al [42]	Saudi Arabia (2014-2015)	346	Random sample of internet users	Online	1.4
Szekely et al [43]	Romania (2010-2011)	253	Community pharmacy patients	Personally administered	8.3
Desai et al [37]	USA (2007)	5074	Internet users	Data from HINTSb national dataset	14.5
Brown and Lee [44]	USA (2002-2010)	88,240	Noninstitutionalized individuals	Data from MEPSc national dataset	0.5d
Fittler et al [38]	Hungary (2010-2011)	422	Hospital patients	Personally administered	8.4
Mazer et al [45]	USA (2007)	1657	Emergency department patients	Personally administered	5.4e

^aN refers to number of respondents.

^bHINTS: Health Information National Trends Survey.

^cMEPS: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

^dRefers to prescription medication.

^eRefers to medication in general.