TY - JOUR
T1 - Promotional methods used by representatives of drug companies: A prospective survey in general practice
AU - Schramm, Jesper
AU - Andersen, Morten
AU - Vach, Kirstin
AU - Kragstrup, Jakob
AU - Kampmann, Jens Peter
AU - Søndergaard, Jens
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Objective. To examine the extent and composition of pharmaceutical industry representatives’ marketing techniques with a particular focus on drug sampling in relation to drug age. Design. A group of 47 GPs prospectively collected data on drug promotional activities during a six-month period, and a sub-sample of 10 GPs furthermore recorded the representatives’ marketing techniques in detail. Setting. Primary healthcare. Subjects. General practitioners in the County of Funen, Denmark. Main outcome measures. Promotional visits and corresponding marketing techniques. Results. The 47 GPs recorded 1050 visits corresponding to a median of 19 (range 3 to 63) per GP in the six months. The majority of drugs promoted (52%) were marketed more than five years ago. There was a statistically significant decline in the proportion of visits where drug samples were offered with drug age, but the decline was small OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.95;0.98) per year. Leaflets (68%), suggestions on how to improve therapy for a specific patient registered with the practice (53%), drug samples (48%), and gifts (36%) were the most frequently used marketing techniques. Conclusion. Drug-industry representatives use a variety of promotional methods. The tendency to hand out drug samples was statistically significantly associated with drug age, but the decline was small.
AB - Objective. To examine the extent and composition of pharmaceutical industry representatives’ marketing techniques with a particular focus on drug sampling in relation to drug age. Design. A group of 47 GPs prospectively collected data on drug promotional activities during a six-month period, and a sub-sample of 10 GPs furthermore recorded the representatives’ marketing techniques in detail. Setting. Primary healthcare. Subjects. General practitioners in the County of Funen, Denmark. Main outcome measures. Promotional visits and corresponding marketing techniques. Results. The 47 GPs recorded 1050 visits corresponding to a median of 19 (range 3 to 63) per GP in the six months. The majority of drugs promoted (52%) were marketed more than five years ago. There was a statistically significant decline in the proportion of visits where drug samples were offered with drug age, but the decline was small OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.95;0.98) per year. Leaflets (68%), suggestions on how to improve therapy for a specific patient registered with the practice (53%), drug samples (48%), and gifts (36%) were the most frequently used marketing techniques. Conclusion. Drug-industry representatives use a variety of promotional methods. The tendency to hand out drug samples was statistically significantly associated with drug age, but the decline was small.
KW - Medicinindustriens markedsføring
KW - Promotional methods used by representatives of drug companies
U2 - 10.1080/02813430701339659
DO - 10.1080/02813430701339659
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 17497486
SN - 0281-3432
VL - 25
SP - 93
EP - 97
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care
IS - 2
ER -