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Table 3 Frequency of updates by database identified via eligible articles

From: eHealth technologies assisting in identifying potential adverse interactions with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or standalone CAM adverse events or side effects: a scoping review

Database name

URL

Frequency of updates

ABDAMED

https://abdata.de/datenangebot/abdamed/

The content is updated daily.

Alticopeia Herbal Medicine Database

http://www.ddhsoftware.com/gallery.html?show=number&record=527

The website states that this database was last updated on January 11, 2009. The frequency of updates is not available.

ALTMEDA

Unclear

This database cannot be located outside the author’s original publication. The frequency of updates is not available.

American Botanical Council

http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/PageServer

Dates of updates to ABC’s product-specific and botanical ingredient monographs range from 2009 to 2019. Information on the frequency of updates made to ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs database is not available.

Caremark Drug Interactions

http://cpref.goldstandard.com/inter.asp?r=8084

Interaction reports list dates of revisions that range from 2016 to 2019. The frequency of updates is not available.

China Natural Products Database (CNPD)

Unclear

While this database has been mentioned in other papers, the database cannot be located, and the frequency of updates is not available.

Chinese Ethnic Minority Traditional Drug Database (CEMTDD)

http://www.cemtdd.com/

The database is still publicly available and maintained but no updates are apparent since the database was created 2014.

Clinical Pharmacology

https://www.clinicalpharmacology.com/

The content is updated daily.

Danish National Drug Interaction Database

http://www.interaktionsdatabasen.dk/

The website states that this database is updated “constantly”. The precise frequency of updates is not explicitly listed.

DoubleCheckMD

Unclear

While this database has been mentioned in other papers, the database cannot be located, and the frequency of updates is not available.

DrDrugs

https://www.skyscape.com/product/drdrugs-drug-guide-for-physicians

The exact frequency of updates will vary based on the publisher’s availability, but drug databases are updated on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Drug Information- formerly named DrugDigest

https://www.express-scripts.com/medco/consumer/ehealth/druginfo/dlmain.jsp?WC=N

The website states that the site homepage was last updated on 04/20/2020. However, dates are not listed for the drug profiles in the database, therefore the frequency of updates is not available.

Drug Product Database

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/drug-products/drug-product-database.html

The website states that monographs are updated after a marketing drug has been authorized, but update frequency is not explicitly stated. Database appears to be updated up until 2020.

DrugBank

https://www.drugbank.ca/

The content is updated daily.

Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ETCM)

http://www.nrc.ac.cn:9090/ETCM/

In their paper, Xu et al. 2019 [47] advised that the database would continue to be updated. The database is maintained but the frequency of updates is not explicitly listed.

Epocrates Rx (plus or pro)

https://online.epocrates.com/

The content is updated daily.

Guide to Popular Natural Products

http://www.skyscape.com/EStore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=951 (inaccessible)

This database no longer exists. The frequency of updates when the database was in existence is not available.

IBIS: Integrative BodyMind Information System

http://www.ouribis.com/

Update frequency is not mentioned clearly. The database was not working for a period of time, and became available again in 2010, The last update appears to be in 2013.

International Drug Information System (INTDIS):

N/A

The INTDIS no longer exists, as it has been replaced by Vigibase.

Lexi-Natural (includes LexiComp)

http://webstore.lexi.com/Store/Individual-Databases/Lexi-Natural-Products

The content of LexiComp is updated daily.

It is stated that the online version has been updated 1–5 time(s) a year, but the last update is recorded as June 2018.

MedicinesComplete (includes Herbal Medicines; formerly known as the British National Formulary)

https://about.medicinescomplete.com/publication/herbal-medicines/

MedicinesComplete is updated 3–4 times a year, usually in January, April, July, and October.

Micromedex (includes DrugDex, Drug-Reax, AltMedDex)

https://www.micromedexsolutions.com/home/dispatch/ssl/true

The content is updated daily.

Natural Medicines (formerly Natural Medicine Comprehensive Database (NMCD) and Natural Standard Database (NSD))

https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/

The content is updated daily.

OncoRx Database (called Onco-Rx as a website, and OncoRx-MI as a mobile app)

http://www.onco-informatics.com/oncorx/

The update frequency is not clear, though likely at least annually. The last update was reported in 2019.

PEPID Drug Information Database

https://www.pepid.com/

Update frequency is not mentioned clearly. It was mentioned that the content is updated “continuously” and “regularly”.

PharmDB-K

http://biomart.i-pharm.org

http://pharmdb-k.org/

There is no information available. Neither links provided lead to an accessible website.

PharmGKB

https://www.pharmgkb.org

Literature annotations and variant annotations are added in real time as a curator annotates the paper. Very important pharmacogene (VIP) summaries, curated pathways and clinical annotations are reviewed periodically. New clinical guideline annotations and drug label annotations are added as they become evident. Gene, drug and disease data that is automatically retrieved is updated in response to scheduled updates at the external resource.

Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia

https://www.tarascon.com/products/mobile/

The frequency of updates is not clear, but the last update was in 2020.

TCM Assistant

http://www.tcmassistant.com/

There is no information available regarding update frequency, and the website is inaccessible.

TCM Database@Taiwan

http://tcm.cmu.edu.tw/

There is no information available regarding update frequency, and the website is inaccessible.

TCMGeneDIT

http://tcm.lifescience.ntu.edu.tw/

There is no information available regarding update frequency, and the website is inaccessible.

TCM-MESH

http://mesh.tcm.microbioinformatics.org/

There is no information available regarding update frequency, and the website is inaccessible.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Database (TCM-ID)

http://bidd.nus.edu.sg/group/TCMsite/

New URL: http://119.3.41.228:8000/tcmid/

2017 Version: Huang L, Xie D, Yu Y, Liu H, Shi Y, Shi T, Wen C. TCMID 2.0: a comprehensive resource for TCM. Nucleic acids research. 2018 Jan 4;46(D1):D1117–20.

The first version of TCM-ID was released in 2012. Since this time, however, a second version was released in 2017 (see new URL with accompanying citation). The frequency of updates since 2017 is unclear.

Vigibase (includes Vigilyze)

https://www.who-umc.org/vigibase/vigibase/

VigiBase is continuously updated with reports, sometimes daily, as they are submitted by member countries of the World Health Organization Programme for International Drug Monitoring. Most national centres report quarterly or even more frequently. The date of occurrence is noted when supplied, and the date of entry into VigiBase is recorded.