Oral Presentation: Animated Explainer Videos as an Effective Way to Communicate Statistical Methods in Pharmacovigilance

Introduction: Digital features such as videos and infographics are used to make scientific literature more understandable and accessible to a wider audience [1, 2]. Plain language summaries and graphical abstracts are fast becoming the norm in complementing scientific publications across disciplines, including pharmacovigilance. However, the use of video explainers is limited, and the usefulness of such features is not well known. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an animated explainer video in communicating a statistical method in pharmacovigilance. Methods: An animated explainer video [3] previously created to complement an earlier scientific publication [4] and improve communication of UMC's novel clustering method vigiGroup was used as a digital feature in this study. Communication specialists and data scientists collaborated to create the video, focusing on identifying key elements of the method and how to best illustrate its application in a visual narrative. A survey of 10 multiple choice and rating scale questions was used to assess comprehension, perceived effectiveness of communication, enjoyment, and desire to learn more. The survey was disseminated across 3 of UMC's social media channels (approx. 50,000 followers), including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, to an audience of predominantly pharmacovigilance professionals. Subsequently, responses were collected and analysed. Results: Fifty-four individuals from 30 countries participated in the survey. Forty-four (81%) of the participants worked in a pharmacovigilance-related field and 30 (56%) had 5 or more years of professional experience. Over 80% of participants answered all comprehension questions correctly, demonstrating a good level of understanding. Additionally, most participants (see Table 1 for detailed results) found the video to be an enjoyable and helpful way to learn about vigiGroup; agreed that an animated explainer video could be a useful alternative to reading a scientific paper and an effective way to visualise scientific methods; and would like to see more scientific methods presented in this way. Conclusion: The vigiGroup animated explainer video was effective in communicating cluster analysis of adverse event reports to an audience of both pharmacovigilance and non-pharmacovigilance professionals. Increasing the use of such videos, to complement scientific literature, could be an effective way of building knowledge of complex statistical methodology and scientific d