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# Drug Web Site Risk Info Location Affects Knowledge: FDA Study
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/drug-web-site-risk-info-location-affects-knowledge-fda-study/
- Published: 2017-03-08T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:10:27.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5138158

A study conducted by FDA researchers found that the location of risk information on prescription drug Web sites can affect consumer knowledge of drug risks. However, they found, signals and special formatting may not be necessary to adequately inform consumers about drug risks.

In the [research](http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2016.1258745?ref=fdaweb.com), reported in the *Journal of Health Communications*, Web sites were presented to consumers with high cholesterol or seasonal allergies promoting a fictitious prescription drug for their condition. The Web site presented risk information at the bottom of the homepage, at the bottom of the homepage with a signal above indicating that the risk information was located below, or on a linked secondary page.

Participants recalled fewer drug risks when the risks were placed on a secondary page. The researchers say that the study’s most important finding was that over one-third of participants assigned to view a Web site with drug risk information on a secondary page did not click the link to view the information, which led to lower retention of the drug’s risks. “These findings demonstrate that placing drug risk information on a secondary page may, in some cases, result in an unbalanced presentation of benefit and risk information,” the researchers conclude.

The researchers report being surprised that they did not find significant effects for risk information format. They tested bulleted lists, checklists, paragraphs, and a highlighted text box. They say the results were similar to those in a study that did not find effects for highlighting a Boxed Warning on a prescription drug Web site.