[e-drug] How to analyze drug promotional material?

E-DRUG: How to analyze drug promotional material?
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Dear E-Druggers

I want to conduct a study on content analysis of drug literature, presented
to prescribers for promotional purposes (so called "information" about brands/drugs).

Can anybody contribute by providing me any article or material to conduct
the study efficiently?

Regards

Mian Imran Masood
Assistant Coordinator Pharmaceuticals
Advocacy and Research Unit
TheNetwork for Consumer Protection
Islamabad-Pakistan
drimranmasood@gmail.com

E-DRUG: How to analyze drug promotional material? (2)
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Here is a list of articles that discuss the different parts of a drug ad
(overall information content, text, references, graphs and pictures/images):

1. Herxheimer A, Lundborg CS, Westerholm B. Advertisements for
medicines in leading medical journals in 18 countries: a 12-month survey of
information content and standards. International Journal of Health Services
1993;23:161-72.

3. Loke TW, Koh FC, Ward JE. Pharmaceutical advertisement claims
in Australian medical publications: is evidence accessible, compelling and
communicated comprehensively? Medical Journal of Australia 2002;177:291-3.

4. Lankinen KS, Levola T, Marttinen K, Puumalainen I,
Helin-Salmivaara A. Industry guidelines, laws and regulations ignored:
quality of drug advertising in medical journals. Pharmacoepidemiology and
Drug Safety 2004;13:789-95.

8. World Health Organization. Ethical criteria for medicinal drug
promotion. Geneva: WHO; 1988.

9. Lal A. Information contents of drug advertisements: an Indian
experience. Annals of Pharmacotherapy 1998;32:1234-8.

10. Lal A, Moharana AK, Srivastava S. Comparative evaluation of
drug advertisements in Indian, British and American medical journals.
Journal of the Indian Medical Association 1997;95:19-20.

11. Mastroianni PdC, Galduróz JCF, Carlini EA. Psychoactive drug
advertising: a comparison of technical information from three countries:
Brazil, United States and United Kingdom. Sao Paulo Medical Journal
2005;123:209-14.

12. Vlassov V, Mansfield P, Lexchin J, Vlassova A. Do drug
advertisements in Russian medical journals provide essential information for
safe prescribing? Western Journal of Medicine 2001;174:391-4.

13. Wilkes MS, Doblin BH, Shapiro MF. Pharmaceutical
advertisements in leading medical journals: experts¹ assessments. Annals of
Internal Medicine 1992;116:912-9.

14. Hemeryck L, Chan R, McCormack PME, Condren L, Feely J.
Pharmaceutical advertisements in Irish medical journals. Journal of
Pharmaceutical Medicine 1995;5:147-51.

15. Graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements: are they truthful,
are they adequately detailed? , 2001. (Accessed February 15, 2006, at
http://www.ama-assn.org/public/peer/prc_program2001.htm#truthful.)

18. Lexchin J. How patient outcomes are reported in drug
advertisements: review of Canadian medical journals. Canadian Family
Physician 1999;45:1213-6.

19. Gutknecht DR. Evidence-based advertising? A survey of four
major journals. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice
2001;14:197-200.

20. Villanueva P, Peiró S, Librero J, Pereiró I. Accuracy of
pharmaceutical advertisements in medical journals. Lancet 2003;361:27-32.

21. Rothermich EA, Pathak DS, Smeenk DA. Health-related
quality-of-life claims in prescription drug advertisements. American Journal
of Health-System Pharmacy 1996;53:1565-9.

24. Neumann PJ, Bambauer KZ, Ramakrishnan V, Stewart KA, Bell CM.
Economic messages in prescription drug advertisements in medical journals.
Medical Care 2002;40:840-5.

25. Gilad J, Moran L, Schlaeffer F, Borer A. Antibiotic drug
advertising in medical journals. Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
2005;37:910-2.

26. Lexchin J, Holbrook A. Methodologic quality and relevance of
references in pharmaceutical advertisements in a Canadian medical journal.
CMAJ 1994;151:47-54.

27. Cooper RJ, Schriger DL. The availability of references and
the sponsorship of original research cited in pharmaceutical advertisements.
CMAJ 2005;172:487-91.

30. Lal A, Moharana AK, Chandra P, Ray A. Critical evaluation of
references in drug advertisements: an Indian experience. Journal of the
Association of Physicians on India 1996;44:778-9.

31. Hawkins J, Aber CS. Women in advertisements in medical
journals. Sex Roles 1993;28:233-42.

32. Lövdahl U, Riska Å, Riska E. Gender display in Scandinavian
and American advertising for antidepressants. Scandinavian Journal of Public
Health 1999;27:306-10.

33. Hansen FJ, Osborne D. Portrayal of women and elderly patients
in psychotropic drug advertisements. Women & Therapy 1995(129-141).

34. Ahmed SB, Grace SL, Stelfox HT, Tomlinson G, Cheung AM.
Gender bias in cardiovascular advertisements. Journal of Evaluation in
Clinical Practice 2004;10:531-8.

35. Leppard W, Ogletree SM, Wallen E. Gender stereotyping in
medical advertising: much ado about nothing? Sex Roles 1993;29:829-38.

36. Lexchin J. The portrayal of the elderly in drug
advertisements: a factor in inappropriate prescribing? Canadian Journal on
Aging 1990;9:296-303.

37. Munce SEP, Robertson EK, Sansom SN, Stewart DE. Who is
portrayed in psychotropic drug advertisements? Journal of Nervous Diseases
2004;192:284-8.

38. Scott T, Stanford N, Thompson DR. Killing me softly: myth in
pharmaceutical advertising. BMJ 2004;329:1484-8.

39. Ferner RE, Scott DK. Whatalotwegot - the messages in drug
advertisements. BMJ 1994;309:1734-6.

40. Kleinman DL, Cohen LJ. The decontextualization of mental
illness: the portrayal of work in psychiatric drug advertisements. Social
Science & Medicine 1991;32:867-74.

41. Quinn J, Nangle M, Casey PR. Analysis of psychotropic drug
advertising. Psychiatric Bulletin 1997;21:597-9.

42. Peppin P, Carty E. Signs of inequality: constructing
disability in antidepressant drug advertising. Health Law Journal
2003;11(Special Edition):161-84.

--
Joel Lexchin MD
Associate Professor
School of Health Policy and Management
York University
4700 Keele St.
Toronto ON
Canada M3J 1P3
Tel: 416-736-2100 x 22119
Fax: 416-736-5227
E mail: jlexchin@yorku.ca

E-DRUG: How to analyze drug promotional material? (4)
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Mian,

You can see some examples of content analysis of advertisements at:

www.healthyskepticism.org/adwatch.php

and

www.healthyskepticism.org/other/NZ/healthy.htm

for background see:

Mansfield PR.
Healthy Skepticism's new AdWatch: understanding drug promotion.
Med J Aust 2003 Dec 1-15;179(11-12):644-5

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/179_11_011203/man10667_fm.html

I hope to find time to write a textbook of the techniques used in drug
promotion which would be useful for you and others.

regards,

Peter

Dr Peter R Mansfield
peter.mansfield@adelaide.edu.au
GP
Research Fellow, Department of General Practice, University of Adelaide.
Founder, Healthy Skepticism Inc.
Countering misleading drug promotion.
www.healthyskepticism.org