Five-minute direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) bouts for prescription heart medications were associated with positive perceptions of both drug use and pharmaceutical companies, but negative intent to use lifestyle interventions Research studies have shown that it did not appear to do so.
Participants who saw advertisements for various prescription heart medications, with or without price disclosure, were more likely to report positive perceptions of pharmaceutical companies and willingness to take action, such as switching medications. .
Advertising did not appear to influence healthy eating or exercise intentions.
The study was published online on August 12. JAMA Health Forum.
DTCA ‘unlikely to adversely affect’
“Increased prevalence of DTCA may drive overreliance on medication rather than healthy lifestyle choices to manage chronic disease,” co-author Yashaswini Singh, MPA, Johns said a doctoral candidate at the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland. theheart.org| Medscape Cardiology. “Therefore, we hypothesized that exposure to DTCA reduces the likelihood of individuals engaging in preventive health behaviors.”
“However, our results did not support this hypothesis. We found that exposure to DTCA for the treatment of heart disease is unlikely to adversely affect an individual’s intention to engage in diet and exercise.” suggests.
“Prescription DTCA may contribute to higher drug costs by over-prescribing inappropriate or branded drugs over cheaper generics. Our paper explores this mechanism. No, but this remains an important issue for future research.”
For this study, the team recruited 2874 individuals (mean age 53.8 years, 54% male, 83% white) from the Ipsos Public Affairs KnowledgePanel, a nationally representative sample of people at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three interventions: (2) her DTCA for heart medications with price disclosure; or (3) non-pharmaceutical advertising (control). Each group watched five one-minute videos of her for a total of five minutes of ad exposure.
One group saw ads for four different heart medications. Two are advertisements for sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto, Novartis), one for rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer), evolocumab (Repatha, Amgen), and ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca). A second group saw the same ad, but with the prices stitched together. It also controls viewing video for non-pharmaceutical products, such as consumer electronics.
Participants then completed a questionnaire to measure their medication and lifestyle intentions, and health beliefs and perceptions. They ranged from 1 (Very unlikely) to 5 (Very high). The same scale was used to assess the likelihood of being more physically active or eating healthier.
On a scale of 1 (always disagree) to 5 (always agree), they also associated perceptions of pharmaceutical manufacturers as competent, innovative and trustworthy.
To measure the magnitude of DTCA association, the researchers calculated the marginal effect (ME) of treatment.
They found a positive association between DTCA and medication-related behavioral intentions, including intention to switch medications (ME, 0.004; P. = .002) engaged in information seeking behavior (ME, 0.02; P. = .01).
There was no evidence to suggest that pharmaceutical DTCA discouraged the use of nonpharmacologic lifestyle interventions to help manage heart disease. DTCA was also positively associated with positive consumer perceptions of drug manufacturers (competence: ME, 0.03; P. = .01; revolutionary: ME, 0.03; P. = .008).
No discriminatory association was found for price disclosures in the DTCA.
question remains
The authors concluded that the study focused on short-term behavioral intentions and that “future studies should focus on the long-term effects of advertising in real-world, randomized settings.” ‘I admit that.
Additional questions her team is investigating, according to Singh, include “understanding the interplay between government policies.” [such as] Drug price reform and corporate advertising decisions. Understanding whether observed changes in an individual’s health beliefs lead to actual changes in information-seeking behavior and health care utilization; individual demographic, political, and social characteristics shape behavioral responses to advertising whether or not.”
said Johanna Contreras, M.D., advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. theheart.org| Medscape Cardiology That the findings should not surprise her. “It should be noted that this study was an online survey and only captured beliefs and intentions, not patient demands for products and their use.”
“I believe DTCA can create positive intentions for products…and I believe it can make people more receptive to interventions. She added that it should be presented in
Furthermore, she said: If the price is significantly lower, they may not believe it is a good product. Generics are an example. are often skeptical about taking them.
This research was funded by a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois Affordability Cures Consortium. Shin and her co-authors have not disclosed any related financial relationships.
JAMA Health Forum. 2022;3:e222570.Overview
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