Healthy Skepticism Library item: 668

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

Landefeld CS, Chren MM, Siddique RM.
A 4-year study of the volume of drug advertisements in leading medical journals
N Engl J Med 1995; 10:(Supp):111

Abstract:

Drug advertisements (ADs) in medical journals are common and financially important. Yet ADs are controversial, especially since the June 1992 report in Annals of Internal Medicine (ANNALS) that most ADs are inaccurate or misleading. We conducted a 4-year study to test two null hypotheses: (i) the overall volume of ADs did not change after publication of the June 1992 report, (ii) changes over time in the volume of drug ADs did not differ among journals. We studied 5 leading medical journals-ANNALS, New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Archives of Internal Medicine (ARCH) and American Journal of Medicine (AJM). For each issue published in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 we counted the pages of text, classifieds and drug ADs. The volume of drug ADs rose before the June 1992 report then fell sharply and remained decreased. A multivariable model controlling for pages of text and classifieds in each issue showed the same temporal pattern. The fall in volume of drug ADs after June 1992 differed among journals: compared to 1/91-6/92 drug AD pages/issue for 7/92-12/94 fell 47% in ANNALS, 32% in ARCHIVES, 32% in JAMA, 13% in AJM and 3% in NEJM. Differences among journals were more marked for some 6-month periods than others. Compared to 1/91-6/92, drug AD pages/issue in 1-6/93 had fallen 53% in ANNALS, in contrast to falls of 26% in ARCH and 26% in JAMA and increases of 1% in AJM and 26% in NEJM. For 7-12/94, drug AD pages/issue had fallen in all five journals (compared to 1/91-6/92), with falls of 53% in ANNALS, 49% in ARCH, 40% in JAMA, 54% in AJM and 24% in NEJM. The volume of drug ADs in 5 leading medical journals changed greatly over the 4-year study period, rising until 1-6/92, then falling sharply to a low level that has persisted. The fall in volume of drug ADs after June 1992 differed among journals, affecting ANNALS most. The causes and effects of these changes over time in the volume of drug ADs have not been determined.

Keywords:
*abstract *analytic survey United States journal advertisements promotion costs and volume EVALUATION OF PROMOTION: JOURNAL ADVERTISEMENTS VOLUME OF AND EXPENDITURE ON PROMOTION