SHORT COMMUNICATION Adverse Drug Reaction Reports Received Through the Mobile App, VigiBIP Ò : A Comparison with Classical Methods of Reporting Franc ¸ois Montastruc 1 • Haleh Bagheri 1 • Isabelle Lacroix 1 • Christine Damase-Michel 1 • Leila Chebane 1 • Vanessa Rousseau 1 • Emilie Jouanjus 1 • Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre 1 • Genevie `ve Durrieu 1 • Jean-Louis Montastruc 1 Ó Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2017 Abstract Introduction The use of mobile apps is increasing in medicine. In pharmacovigilance, mobile apps may help to increase adverse drug reaction reporting and improve the communication of safety issues. The Toulouse University Pharmacovigilance Center has developed VigiBIP Ò , a free smartphone app available on Android and Apple stores, for reporting adverse drug reactions and requesting drug safety information. Objective The present study was performed to compare the main characteristics of spontaneous adverse drug reaction reports received through VigiBIP Ò with classical methods of reporting (phone, e-mail, fax, letter, website) during 25 months (2015–17). Methods Using the Chi squared test, we compared the type of reporter, adverse drug reaction seriousness, drugs involved and reported ADRs using VigiBIP Ò and classical methods of reporting Results A total of 4102 reports were received by the Toulouse University Pharmacovigilance Center, including 4.7% through VigiBip Ò . Patients’ reports were signifi- cantly more frequent with VigiBip Ò (6.7%) than with classical methods (3.4%) [p = 0.01]. Reported adverse drug reactions and involved drugs differed according to the method of reporting used. Conclusion Our study shows that a mobile app is an additional tool used in pharmacovigilance. Types of reporters and adverse drug reactions in VigiBIP were dif- ferent to those seen in classical methods of reporting. Key Points It is necessary to develop new methods to improve and facilitate notifications of adverse drug reactions. Among them, the use of mobile apps was suggested for reporting adverse drug reactions. The Toulouse University Pharmacovigilance Center has developed VigiBIP Ò , a free smartphone app for reporting adverse drug reactions and requesting drug safety information, available on Android and Apple stores. The mobile app is an additional tool used in pharmacovigilance, allowing the receipt of adverse drug reaction reports that are different from those usually obtained using other classical methods of reporting. 1 Introduction The burden of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is well established [1–3]. However, under-reporting is a major problem in pharmacovigilance. Thus, several new methods have been developed to improve and facilitate notifications of ADRs from healthcare practitioners or patients, such as & Jean-Louis Montastruc jean-louis.montastruc@univ-tlse3.fr 1 Service de Pharmacologie Me ´dicale et Clinique, Centre de PharmacoVigilance, de Pharmacoe ´pide ´miologie et d’Informations sur le Me ´dicament, Pharmacopo ˆle, INSERM UMR 1027, CIC INSERM 1436, Faculte ´ de Me ´decine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France Drug Saf https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-017-0630-2