Healthy Skepticism Library item: 643

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Aldir RE, Jarjoura D, Phinney M, Poordad F, Gutierrez R, Marnejon T, Greifenstein E, Lappin J, Whittier FC.
Practicing and resident physician’s views on pharmaceutical companies.
J Contin Educ Health Prof 1996; 16:25-32

Abstract:

We studied the perception of residents and practicing physicians regarding interaction with pharmaceutical companies and their representatives. We focused on the concept that the pharmaceutical industry is considered to have an undue influence on physician prescribing habits and assessed the effect of pharmaceutical education efforts on physician education. The study consisted of an anonymous 22-item questionnaire sent to 511 Northestern Ohio primary care practicing physicians and 265 primary care residents. We obtained a 67% response rate. Only 13% of the practicing physicians and 8% of the residents believed that the pharmaceutical industry had a negative influence on conferences. Eighty-nine percent of the physicians believed that they had sufficient training to interpret information from the pharmaceutical companies. Residents believed that they needed more training for the private detailing of representatives (39% had adequate training) versus 61% of the practicing physicians (p < 0.0001). Both physician groups felt that, as the value of a gift increased, the less appropriate it was. Factors that were not perceived as having influence on prescribing included lunches, dinners, and gifts. Provision of free samples did affect the choice of writing a prescription. We analyzed five constructs of a history of receipt of gifts, attitudes towards gifts, attitudes toward information, influence on prescription and assessment of prior training. We found the correlations among those constructs to be low. This implies that physicians’ attitudes and behaviours cannot be treated globally. In the call for changes in the practices of the pharmaceutical companies, an assumption is made that such changes will diminish unwarranted influence on physicians. Our results indicated that pharmaceutical gifts and influence on conferences have no apparent effect on prescribing habits. They also indicated that various attitudes and behaviours of physicians toward pharmaceutical companies are independent constructs, such that changing one has little, if any, influence on another. Physicians seem more discerning than the calls for change suggest.

Keywords:
*analytic survey United States attitude toward promotion primary care doctors physicians in training quality of prescribing sales representatives sponsored symposia & conferences gift giving source of information ATTITUDES REGARDING PROMOTION: HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ATTITUDES REGARDING PROMOTION: PHYSICIANS IN TRAINING EDUCATING ABOUT PROMOTION: HEALTH PROFESSIONALS EDUCATING ABOUT PROMOTION: PHYSICIANS IN TRAINING ETHICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTION: GIFT GIVING ETHICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTION: PAYMENT FOR MEALS, ACCOMODATION, TRAVEL, ENTERTAINMENT INFLUENCE OF PROMOTION: PRESCRIBING, DRUG USE PROMOTION AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION: DOCTORS PROMOTION AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION: PHYSICIANS IN TRAINING PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES: DETAILING