Using Qualitative Content Analysis to Study Consumer Reports on Adverse Drug Reactions

Using qualitative content analysis on adverse drug reactions reports filed to an open Internet-based reporting system in Sweden, this study explored patients’ and consumers’ experiences of antidepressant treatment and the medical encounter. By scrutinizing free text comments in 181 individual consumer reports of adverse drug reactions, we could obtain important information about how people, as individuals and as a group, experience mental health problems, their diagnosis and treatment, and their relationships with the health care personnel.