Health Effects Of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Of Prescription Drugs.

A “DTCA visit” is a visit to a physician in which direct-to-consumer advertising of a prescription medicine prompted the patient to have a discussion about an advertised medicine or other health related concern.

* DTCA motivates patients to educate themselves about their health care through increased dialogue at the doctor’s office. About 35% of respondents were prompted by an ad for a medicine to have a discussion about a DTCA medicine or other health related concern during a visit with their physician.

* Patients are receiving medical attention for conditions that were discovered at a DTCA physician visit. One in four patients with a DTCA visit received a new diagnosis; approximately 43% of these new diagnoses were high priority conditions.

* Frequently under-diagnosed and under-treated conditions in the U.S., including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression, are being discovered through DTCA visits.

* Many participants who received and took a medicine prescribed during a DTCA visit indicated an improved quality of life. About four in five patients who were prescribed a medicine (not necessarily an advertised medicine) said they felt better after taking the medicine, and a similar proportion reported improved symptoms. Among the subset with lab tests, four in five had results showing a change for the better.

* DTCA visits prompted actions at the doctor’s office other than prescribing the advertised drug:
— 33% of visits prompted a specialist referral
— 57% of visits prompted lab tests
— 19% prompted recommendations for over-the-counter medications
— 52% prompted recommendations to incorporate lifestyle changes, and
— 34% prompted recommendations to reduce smoking or drinking

* DTCA helps patients to manage patient care by empowering the patient to play a more active role in their health care. Out of 86% of respondents who saw or heard a DTC ad in the last year, 20% improved their diet and 18% said they were better about taking their medicines due, in part, to the ad.

* Nearly half of patients who had a DTCA visit were told that the advertised prescription medicine was not right for them and were not prescribed the advertised drug.

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http://www.healthaffairs.org/WebExclusives/Pharma_Web_Excl_022603.htm